Recently, the Ministry of Transport ("MOT") has issued the Guidelines on Advancing the Green Shipping Development for the Yangtze River Economic Zone (the "Guidelines").
The Guidelines state that the year 2020 will see the formation of a preliminary green shipping system that effectively connects different shipping channels, achieves a scientific and reasonable layout of ports, employs energy-saving and environmental friendly shipping equipment, makes use of shipping resources in an economical manner, and creates an advanced and efficient shipping organization, and a far more important role of such green shipping system in the integrated transportation system; and remarkable development will be realized in a series of key areas, such as green shipping channels, green ports, green vessels and approaches to organize green transportation. For this purpose, the Guidelines roll out six major tasks, including improving the plan on the green shipping development for the Yangtze River Economic Zone, building eco-friendly infrastructure for green shipping, promoting clean and low-carbon technologies and equipment for green shipping, creating an energy-saving and efficient organizational system for green shipping, enhancing the administration capacity of green shipping, and conducting special actions on the development of green shipping in an in-depth way, and meanwhile, require the implementation of five special actions, such as tackling safety issues involved in the shipping of hazardous chemicals.