Shanghai – Antwerp Bond Deepened

The port of Shanghai  and the port of Antwerp have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the recent visit of the port of Antwerp’s delegation to Shanghai.  The ports have through the MoU agreed to among other things exchange information about their respective hinterlands, carry out joint promotion and set up training courses for maritime professionals.

Antwerp and Shanghai have maintained close relationships with each other ever since they were first twinned in 1985. The twinning agreement was subsequently confirmed during the Belgian trade mission to China headed by the then prince Philippe of Belgium in 2004.

Ten years later, the two ports have undertaken to collaborate intensively with one another in a number of fields. Antwerp’s maritime know-how is strongly represented in the port of Shanghai, as 240 Chinese port professionals have been trained by APEC, the training subsidiary of Antwerp Port Authority.

“Friendship through port knowledge” is the baseline of APEC, the training centre for the port of Antwerp. APEC has been recognised since 2004 by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs in China (SAFEA) as a qualified “overseas training institution” for Chinese delegations.

More than 3,800 Chinese specialists have already received training from APEC.