The International Symposium on the Regulation of Marine Biodiversity in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction

The International Legislative Symposium on Marine Biodiversity beyond Areas of National Jurisdictionwas held at the Xiamen Millennium Harbourview Hotel from November 2 to 3, 2019. The symposiumwas hosted by China Institute for Marine Affairs and South China Sea Institute of Xiamen University, organized by the South China Sea Institute and Center for Oceans Law and the China Seas, andsponsored by the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Ocean Development. More than40 experts and scholars from Department of Treaty and Law of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, International Affairs Drpartment of Ministry of Natural Resources of the People’s Republic of China, China Institute for Marine Affairs, the third Institute of Oceanography of Ministry of Natural Resources of the People’s Republic of China, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Renmin University of China, Beijing Institute of Technology, Minzu University of China, Ocean University of China, East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai Ocean University, Central China Normal University, Hainan University and Xiamen University, attended thissymposium.

The opening ceremony of the symposium was heldin the morning of November2^nd. Professor SHI Yubing, vicedean of the South China Sea Institute of Xiamen University, hosted theopening ceremony.Zhang Haiwen,Director of China Institute for Marine Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources of the People’s Republic of China, Zhu Xiaoqin,vicedean of theLaw School of Xiamen University, Wang Shaoyu, director ofthe Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Ocean Development,delivered openingspeeches respectively.Thesymposium included four topics.

Topic 1: Marine Genetic Resources (MGRs).

Topic 2: Area-based Management Tools (ABMTs), including Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

Topic 3: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Topic 4:Capacity Building& TransferofTechnology and Cross-Cutting Issues (CBTT&CCI).

The closing ceremony of the symposium was held at noon on November3^rd. Professor SHI Yubing, vicedean of the South China Sea Institute of Xiamen University,delivered concludingremarks. He believed that the topics of this seminar arewelltargeted. Withdata, analysis, suggestions, andillustration from experts, the understanding of complex issues has been further strengthened through the direct dialogue and exchange between scientists and legal experts. He sincerelyinvited all experts to participate in the fourth China-EU InternationalSymposium on the Law of the Sea, to beorganised by the South China Sea Institute in June 2020.Associate researcher ZHENG Miaozhuang, China Institute for Marine Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources of the People’s Republic of China,delivered a closing speech on behalf of Director Zhang Haiwen. He clarified some improperinterpretation of important topics aroundthe current academic circles and put forwardhis own opinions. Finally,SHI expressed his gratitude to all the guests for their contributions, and looked forward to working together with the experts and actively contributing to the BBNJ negotiations toachieve more intellectual results.