One of Wah Kwong's first cooperation projects with Chinese shipyards, Torm Lily, is delivered in 1996 and built by Dalian Shipyard.
Maritime company forges business ties with Chinese mainland to advance growth
Hong Kong-based shipping company Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings, long committed to advancing the development of China's maritime sector, spares no effort to support the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as it embraces growth on the mainland.
Long-term commitment
According to Hing Chao, the third-generation executive chairman of Wah Kwong and chairman of the China Subcommittee of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, Wah Kwong was established by shipping tycoon T.Y. Chao in 1952 and has been supporting China's shipping industry since the 1990s.
In 1991, the company ordered four ships from Dalian Shipyard, which marked the beginning of the cooperation between Wah Kwong and shipyards on the Chinese mainland.
"I am proud to say that we are one of the first international shipping companies to build ships on the Chinese mainland, and that we－the Hong Kong shipping community－collectively transfer significant international knowledge and experience to Chinese shipyards during this period," Chao said.
After Hong Kong's return to the motherland in 1997, Wah Kwong continued to expand partnerships on the Chinese mainland, not only with shipyards, but also major shipping companies such as COSCO and China Merchants, China P&I Club, in which Chao's father was its first international director, China Classification Society, banks such as the Export-Import Bank of China as well as financial leasing companies.
These partnerships provided a springboard for Wah Kwong and its partners to assist in the internationalization of China's maritime sector.
According to Chao, such long-term, multilayered cooperation has, in turn, provided new opportunities to Wah Kwong during the global shipping industry downturn.
In response to an extended depressed shipping market which lasted from 2011-17, and in order to adapt to the changing shipping environment, Chao led his team to develop integrated ship management services in 2019.
While ship-owning activities remain central to Wah Kwong's business, asset management has become another a major growth engine.
"The rising demand for first-class integrated ship management services from Chinese financial leasing companies has given us the opportunity to branch out into ship management, which has considerably enlarged our market footprint and operational scale since 2019," Chao said.
Riding on the continuous growth of China's shipping sector and strong partnership network on the Chinese mainland, Wah Kwong has reported stable growth since 2019 despite the pandemic and uncertainties in the global maritime industry.
"Our company has been growing steadily since 2019. While our own tonnage has remained fairly stable, growth has come from 'asset-light' activities such as ship management and trading operations," Chao said.
In recent years, China has been constructing the Bay Area with the aim to promote the integrated development of Hong Kong, Macao and nine cities on the Chinese mainland.
According to Chao, though the fundamental competitive advantages of Hong Kong's shipping industry remain solid, the industry is facing challenges.
At the same time, the Bay Area development plan offers an opportunity to construct a new maritime ecosystem that will combine the strengths and advantages of Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, and in which Hong Kong may continue to act as the link between China and the rest of the world, he said.
"Shipping finance, maritime legal services and education are obvious topics of mutual interest where integration would bring significant benefits to maritime development within the Bay Area as a whole."
Hong Kong, ready to embark on a new journey toward prosperity 25 years after its return to the motherland, should focus on three pillars of the maritime industry－legal services, finance and education－to deepen the city's integration and cement its position as the maritime leader within the Bay Area, Chao suggested.
Over the last two years, Chao has been advocating greater engagement among key stakeholders within the Bay Area. One such initiative is the Greater Bay Maritime Forum, which Chao convened in Hong Kong in November 2021 to promote dialogue and cooperation.
More than 1,700 government officials, business representatives and experts participated.
At the forum, two memorandums of understanding were signed to enhance maritime arbitration and talent cultivation in Hong Kong. The second edition will be held this November.
"The Greater Bay Maritime Forum is a platform for key stakeholders within the Bay Area to engage in dialogue, exchange views and information on the most topical issues, and most importantly, to facilitate cooperation," Chao said.
Wah Kwong is attaching great importance to maritime education and training on the Chinese mainland to address skilled worker shortages and cultivate the next generation of talents.
It plans to create a new model of university-enterprise partnerships that may reform the educational model amid a rapidly changing maritime industry.
So far, it has established partnerships with Shandong Jiaotong University and Qingdao Seafarers' Academy to train officers for the shipping industry.
Chao said the company is also partnering with Shenzhen Ocean University to nurture top talents for China's ocean economy, and they plan to develop a future ocean business school together.
Looking ahead, Wah Kwong will continue to embrace growth by capitalizing on the Bay Area.
Since 2019, the company has been running an office in the Qianhai area of Shenzhen to support its asset management business.
Chao said the branch has enabled Wah Kwong to recruit seafarers, supervise newbuilding activities in shipyards, and continue operations during the pandemic.
It will also continue to expand partnerships around the world to strengthen its international footprint in the global maritime industry.
Source: China Daily
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Xinde Marine News.
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