On the morning of October 15, the 2020 China Marine Economy Expo (CMEE) officially kicked off in Shenzhen. Lu Hao, Minister of Natural Resources and Chief Inspector of National Natural Resources, attended the opening ceremony. Wang Hong, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Director of the State Oceanic Administration, and Qin Weizhong, Vice Governor of Guangdong Province delivered speeches respectively. Chen Rugui, Mayor of Shenzhen presided over the opening ceremony.

Guided by the spirit of the congratulatory letter from General Secretary Xi Jinping to the 2019 CMEE, high-standard exhibitions, forums, investment fairs and supporting activities will be launched at this year's event under the theme of "open cooperation and shared benefits". In order to overcome the impact of COVID-19, this CMEE also actively adopts emerging technologies such as VR and 5G to open online channels such as "Cloud Audience", "Cloud Forum" and "Cloud Exhibition". It is reported that this CMEE has attracted a total of 608 leading enterprises in the marine field at home and abroad to participate in the exhibition. The exhibition area reaches 60,000 m2, increasing by 63% from last year, and 18 professional forums will be organized, indicating an increase of 50%, fully demonstrating the strong development resilience and potential of the marine economy under the challenge of COVID-19. A large number of new technologies, new products and new achievements have been unveiled at the CMEE involving six major sectors: ships and port shipping, marine resource development, high-end marine equipment, marine electronic information, marine ecological environmental protection and safety, and marine biomedicine. During the visit to the expo, Lu Hao and his entourage listened carefully to the introductions of exhibitors, inquired in detail about the production and operation status of enterprises, had in-depth exchanges on research and development of related marine technologies and application of results, and conducted on-site survey to understand the development of marine economy.

Later, Lu Hao presided over the "Entrepreneurs Symposium on the High-quality Development of the Marine Economy". Representatives from more than 30 ocean business-related enterprises from the coastal areas of China attended the meeting. More than 10 entrepreneurs spoke enthusiastically. While introducing their operating results, they put forward suggestions and needs in the investment in innovating marine emerging industries, construction of marine public service platforms, expansion of investment and financing services for ocean-related enterprises, and improvement of government’s macro guidance and policy assurance levels. Lu Hao and Wang Hong interacted frequently with the entrepreneurs in an enthusiastic atmosphere of exchanges and discussions. In his concluding speech, Lu Hao pointed out that it is necessary to deeply study and comprehend General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on the development of marine economy and building a maritime power, and the major decisions and deployments to promote the formation of a new development pattern, and correctly understand and handle the dialectical relationship between marine ecological protection and marine development and utilization. We must not only strengthen ecological protection and resource constraints, but also seize development opportunities. To maintain the relationship between the government and enterprises, the government and enterprises should jointly determine the major areas and directions of marine economic development, and coordinately promote major marine technological innovation and achievement transformation; The government must build a public service platform for the marine economy, especially a pilot sea area for important marine technological innovations, provide investment and financing services in accordance with the law of corporate growth, and focus on organizing strategic core technology research; enterprises should discover new market opportunities in the cycle of total demand-supply in marine economy, actively explore feasible business models, and focus on the integration of technologies in other fields such as the Internet, AI and big data, and follow the principle of simultaneous technical and economic feasibility to develop and grow step by step. Lu Hao said that the Ministry of Natural Resources will regularly communicate with ocean-related enterprises, formulate and implement support policies based on responsibilities, and input greater efforts to promote the high-quality development of the marine economy.