Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Amid profound changes unseen in a century, the ocean, as a vital space for human survival and development, is directly tied to the process of building a community with a shared future for humanity. 

The China-proposed Global Governance Initiative (GGI) rests on five core concepts: staying committed to sovereign equality, international rule of law, multilateralism, the people-centered approach and real results. It aims to push the international order toward greater fairness and justice, offering both important theoretical guidance and practical pathways for reforming and improving the global maritime governance system.

Specifically, in terms of global maritime governance, staying committed to sovereign equality emphasizes that all countries, regardless of size, strength or wealth, should participate equally in setting maritime governance rules and share in the benefits of marine development. This will fundamentally address the lack of representation and inclusiveness in the current global maritime governance system and provide important guidance for building a fairer and more just international maritime order.

Staying committed to international rule of law requires that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter are universally recognized as basic norms of international relations. They must be upheld unwaveringly. At present, unilateralist actions by certain countries are seriously undermining the international maritime legal order, while some countries' willingness to shoulder international responsibilities has clearly diminished.

Staying committed to multilateralism calls to give full play to the UN's central role in international maritime affairs and support international institutions, such as the International Seabed Authority, to perform their duties according to law. At the same time, countries should be encouraged to establish diverse maritime cooperation mechanisms at regional and subregional levels to form a maritime governance network with multiple layers and in all dimensions.

Staying committed to the people-centered approach ensures that people of all nations can jointly participate in and share the outcomes of global maritime governance. The outcomes of maritime governance should benefit all the countries, particularly the developing ones, to prevent marine resource exploitation from becoming the privilege of a few countries.

Staying committed to real results means advancing maritime governance from conceptual consensus to practical cooperation. Guided by this approach, coastal countries can integrate maritime governance with the implementation of sustainable development goals, carrying out substantive cooperation in marine ecological protection, sustainable use of marine resources and marine science and technology innovation.

Following the GGI's core concepts and principles helps reshape the international maritime governance landscape, altering the long-standing situation where discourse power was dominated by a handful of maritime powers. At the same time, greater attention to the demands of developing countries will, through capacity building, technology transfer and financial support, help enhance their ability in maritime governance. In emerging areas, such as the marine digital economy and blue carbon, countries need to strengthen cooperation to jointly foster new drivers of marine economic growth and build networks of blue partnerships. This holistic perspective helps break down the traditional silos of maritime governance and create a more systematic and comprehensive governance framework.

Of course, improving global maritime governance order still faces many challenges, including strategic doubts among traditional maritime powers and disruptions from geopolitics. The international community should adopt a constructive attitude, enhance mutual trust through dialogue and resolve differences through cooperation to continuously improve mechanisms for maritime governance cooperation.

As a responsible maritime power, China will continue to work with other countries to promote the implementation of the GGI in the field of maritime affairs, making active contributions to the establishment of a fairer and more just international maritime order. It has always adhered to an open and inclusive approach to cooperation, sharing its maritime governance experience and jointly safeguarding maritime peace and security with other countries.

Looking ahead, the GGI is bound to inject new impetus into reforming the international maritime governance system.

The author is the director of the Research Center for International and Regional Studies at China's National Institute for South China Sea Studies. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn