“I believe Captain Lirong has been a key driver in developing the outstanding COSCO Shipping Group we see today,” says BIMCO President Anastasios Papagiannopoulos, who was on stage to hand over the award.
The BIMCO President also mentioned that during his career, Lirong became one of the youngest captains in China, the first President of Shanghai Shipping Exchange as well as presiding over the unprecedented merger of COSCO Group and China Shipping Group.
The President’s Award is given to honour an individual or company who has made a significant contribution to shipping and the maritime industry.
The award was received on behalf of Captain Lirong by Executive Vice President of COSCO Shipping, Yu Zenggang.
“Looking towards 2019, COSCO Shipping will build itself into a world-class shipping and logistics service supplier by joining hands with all parties and continually enhancing its development quality to better serve its clients,” Zenggang said in his speech.
Best Shipping Company of Greater China Area 2019
China Merchants Energy Shipping received the award for Best Shipping Company of Greater China Area 2019. The key reason for the award was the company’s innovative big client strategy which has supported its strong development into a world-leading shipping service provider covering oil, dry bulk, gas and special goods transportation.
“This award is an abundant affirmation of the achievements accomplished by China Merchants Energy Shipping last year, and also a great encouragement for our future development,” said Captain Xie Chunlin, Chairman of China Merchants Energy Shipping.
BIMCO’s Shanghai Conference and Award Dinner was organized to bring the industry together for an afternoon and evening of discussions, insight and networking for shipping professionals from all over Asia. The event included three Power Panels on arbitration, the environment and the shipping market.
“We are very pleased and honoured to see so many of our colleagues from the shipping industry turn up. There are a lot of challenges for shipping companies right now, and we need to discuss them to try to find answers that fit with the individual business models,” says Wei Zhuang, BIMCO’s regional manager in Asia who was in charge of the conference.
The previous BIMCO Shanghai Conference and Award Dinner was held in 2016.