Wang Jiehua, Director of Ningbo Cultural Heritage

Management Research Institute

Ningbo is a city born out of the sea, prospering because of the sea. The city’s history is in fact a history of maritime exploration and a history of Maritime Silk Road expansion. Ningbo’s forebears began their primitive development of the sea more than 8,000 years ago, and Hemudu culture emerged about 1,000 years later. Gouzhang, the first port city in Ningbo, was born over 2,000 years ago. When Mingzhou was set up as a prefecture in the Tang dynasty, Maritime Silk Road began to prosper, and reached its zenith during the Song and Yuan (1206-1368) dynasties, making Mingzhou one of the best-known ports in the world. The maritime development and exploration over the past few thousand years have not only forged Ningbo as it is today, but also fostered the Ningbo spirit of enterprising, inclusiveness and openness, which will serve as the basis of the city’s future development for a long time to come.

Xu Xiamin, Executive Deputy Director, Ningbo Maritime Silk Road Institute

Ningbo Port is not only connecting the world, it is also a place for many local people to operate and learn advanced technologies. From 1985, when Beilun Port was listed as an open port to 2015, when Ningbo Port and Zhoushan Port integrated as Ningbo Zhoushan Port, Ningbo city has witnessed tremendous development. Tens of thousands of foreign businessmen attend the China-Central and Eastern European Countries Expo held annually in Ningbo, during which plenty of cultural exchange activities also take place. By the end of 2019, colleges and universities in Ningbo have signed nearly 120 cooperation agreements and projects with universities in Central and Eastern European countries. Our ports are a treasure for all mankind, not for any one country. In the process of mutual exchange, we all benefit from each other's growth. In my opinion, innovation happens at the margin or the boundary and ports happen to be at the very margin, where cultural interactions the most frequently.

Jin Baidong, Researcher at Wenzhou Research Institute of Culture and History

During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, porcelain replaced silk as the main commodity along the Maritime Silk Road. Indeed, countries and regions along the route began to refer to China as the country of porcelain or ceramics: China was no longer Seres (silk); it would be called “China”. At that time, a large number of the ships sailing on the sea were Chinese merchant ships, mostly carrying porcelain products. The highly developed porcelain industry was concentrated in several places, one of which was Longquan, famous for producing swords and celadon, and another was the area along the Oujiang River banks, well known for its Ou kilns. Started in the Eastern Han Dynasty, they were one of the three sites where Chinese porcelain ware was first made in China.

Hong Zhenning, Director of Institute of Wenzhou Studies at Wenzhou University

After Yantai Treaty (also known as the Chefoo Convention) was signed in 1876, British ships arrived at the port of Wenzhou the very next year. From 1877 to 1930, Wenzhou’s import and export increased by 22 times and 309 times respectively. It is Wenzhou’s geographical features, namely mountainous and close to the sea, that have created the Wenzhounese “dual character” of fiercely guarding their soil and enjoying venturing out at the same. With its flourishing trade, Wenzhou has nurtured a social culture of “being practical”. The Yongjia School, which originated in Wenzhou during the Song dynasty, is one of the most respected schools in the history of Chinese thought. As a port city, Wenzhou has historically been an important link along the Maritime Silk Road. Wenzhou people, or Wenzhounese, are known for being hard-working, entrepreneurial and open-minded. Forty years ago, Wenzhou took the lead in the nationwide reform and opening-up as a pioneer zone, lit up the “spark” of the development of China’s private economy, created the world-famous “Wenzhou Model”, achieved many of “China’s firsts”, and also forged the “pioneering” spirit of Wenzhou businesspeople.

Liu Hongwu, Dean of Institute of African Studies, Zhejiang Normal University

Regarded as “the foundation of the foundation”, cooperation between China and African countries is crucial for China's diplomacy. Since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2000, China-Africa relations have developed rapidly. As a result, demand for African studies and professionals in African studies also saw a corresponding increase. One of the major goals of the Belt and Road, people-to-people bond is now a top priority in promoting China-African cooperation and tackling the problem of information asymmetry. The best way to realize the goal is to build up the cultural, artistic, language and education channels, among others, between the two sides. Indeed, China’s deepening research on Africa is also encouraging more African countries to study China. Now, there are nearly 1,000 African students studying in Zhejiang Normal University. In the past decade or so, about ten thousand students and senior officials from Africa have studied in our university, and have become important proponents of cooperation with China after their return.

Sun Hejun, Secretary General of the Putuo Research Institute of Maritime Culture

Zhoushan has a very rich maritime culture. Our ancestors made a living on the sea and, based on it, developed Zhoushan’s fishing culture. Subsequently, a series of subcultures, including boat culture, fishing port culture, fishing village culture, maritime trade culture and even some folk beliefs, were born out of it. Such maritime folk arts and customs as fishermen’s songs, Zhoushan gongs and drums, flea dance can only be found in Zhoushan. In fact, the origin of Zhoushan gongs and drums can be traced to the Ming dynasty, when local people were fighting against Japanese pirates, and doing military drills by beat gongs and drums on boats and ships. Over 1,000 pieces of Spanish silver coins, dating to the 18th and 19th centuries, were also found in Zhoushan, a testimony to the bustling maritime trade at the time. In olden times, both foreign merchants and Chinese traders would visit Putuo Mountain to pray for safety for their sea travels, and Putuo Mountain has long been a sacred land of Buddhism.

Huang Jiangang, Director of the Research Center at Zhoushan Archipelago New Area

When the State Council approved the establishment of the “Zhoushan Archipelago New Area”, it put special emphasis on building a “maritime economy-themed new area”, indicating that the authorities hoped Zhoushan would prioritize the development of its maritime economy. Over the years, by fully tapping its maritime resources, Zhoushan has vigorously cultivated modern maritime industries and formed an open economic system mainly based on shipbuilding, port logistics, aquatic processing, maritime tourism and other industries. Zhoushan’s greatest advantage lies in the exploitation of its maritime resources and the development of maritime commerce. Located at the mouths of the Hangzhou Bay and the Yangtze River, connecting the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, and as a passage way to enter the Pacific Ocean, Zhoushan is undoubtedly key to the development of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.