Boao Forum sub-forum 'Our Shared Home' roundtable held in Hainan

The Boao Forum for Asia Sub-forum on the South China Sea and the "Our Shared Home" roundtable media series, jointly organized by China Media Group, the National Institute for South China Sea Studies (NISCSS), and Huayang Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance (Huayang Center), took place on March 27 and 28 in Boao, Hainan.

A maritime community with a shared future

The "Our Shared Home" roundtable brought together over 10 Chinese and international experts from countries including China, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore for dialogues in both online and offline formats.

Discussions focused on marine governance, maritime security, and the blue economy, addressing challenges, solutions, and future directions for humanity's shared home.

Experts at the roundtable noted that intensifying global geopolitical conflicts are increasingly spilling over into maritime security and ocean governance. Regional maritime stability and the international maritime order now face new tests.

Against this backdrop, the vision of a maritime community with a shared future is gaining greater contemporary relevance and practical significance.

The vision serves as a key to addressing the challenges facing the maritime domain, said Wu Shicun, chairman of the Huayang Center and chairman of the NISCSS.

Wu said the South China Sea can be a testing ground for building a maritime community with a shared future, guided by the region's stability and prosperity, bound by peace, driven by environmental protection, and grounded in the engagement of youth, working together to safeguard peace and stability in the region.

Martin Jacques, a renowned British scholar and former senior research fellow in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge, spoke highly of the role that the Chinese government has played in the areas of climate change and marine environment protection, noting that while the US continues to withdraw from relevant cooperation mechanisms, China has never been absent from such cooperation.

Rommel Banlaoi, chairman of Philippine Society for International Security Studies, stressed that the South China Sea has long been a shared homeland for the neighboring countries. However, external interference has created disorder in the region. To make it a sea of ​​peace, friendship and prosperity, the emphasis should be placed on promoting peace rather than confrontation.

Facing challenges to the maritime order, Zhou Jian, former representative of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affair of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said he's glad to see the regional countries have adopted a united stance to safeguard regional common security and interests, and promote regional prosperity and development through rules rather than unilateral actions.

Experts also agreed that the ocean is not an arena for dividing the world, but rather a shared home for humanity, which requires countries to work together to build it.

Veronika S. Saraswati, director of the Global Development Research Center of Indonesia, commended the maritime cooperation between China and Indonesia, which, facilitated by a bilateral intergovernmental cooperation mechanism, has delivered significant results in fisheries, ports and ecological conservation.

Peter T.C. Chang, research associate of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association and former deputy director at the Institute of China Studies of Universiti Malaya, said China's vision of a maritime community with a shared future has struck a strong chord with Southeast Asian countries. Amid the many challenges facing the oceans currently, China has taken a leading role and done very well in marine environmental protection and the sustainable development of fisheries.

The vision offers a Chinese solution, guided by which countries can make the ocean a blue home that all of humanity can manage in an orderly manner, said Yan Yan, researcher at the NISCSS.

2026 Maritime International Communication Symposium

On the same day as the roundtable, representatives from China's maritime institutions, universities, and media gathered at the CMG Sanya Base to discuss the planning and production of South China Sea documentaries, other distinctive maritime media products, and ways to enhance the quality of international maritime communication.

Boao Forum sub-forum on the South China Sea

Nearly 200 experts, scholars, and industry representatives from over 20 countries and regions engaged in discussions on the maritime order amid global changes during the Boao Forum for Asia Sub-forum on the South China Sea and the "Our Shared Home" roundtable media series, contributing to efforts to promote marine cooperation and governance.