Xinde Marine News — On 2 July, the Ben Line Dalian High-Tech Zone Maritime Industry-Education Integration Base was officially launched at the Overseas Students Pioneer Park in Dalian High-Tech Zone, with the first training programme starting on the same day.

During the event, Ben Line signed cooperation agreements with Dalian Maritime University and Dalian Minzu University to jointly develop industry-education programmes and graduate internship bases. The move marks a further step in Dalian’s effort to build a stronger talent pipeline for maritime services.

The event brought together representatives from the Dalian Municipal Transportation Bureau, Dalian High-Tech Zone, Liaoning Port Group, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian Minzu University, Dalian University of Foreign Languages, Dalian Jiaotong University, as well as companies and institutions from shipping, logistics, offshore engineering and human resources.

Ben Line’s Dalian Centre of Excellence

Founded in Edinburgh in 1825, Ben Line has grown from a shipowning company into a maritime and logistics group with a strong footprint across Asia-Pacific. Today, the group operates in 18 countries and regions, with more than 130 offices and over 2,300 employees. Its services cover liner and NVOCC agency, marine agency, port representation, integrated logistics, tank and chemical logistics, and freight solutions.

The launch of the training base comes as Ben Line’s Dalian Centre of Excellence continues to scale up.

According to Nicole Huang, Group Human Resources General Manager of Ben Line, the Dalian Centre of Excellence was established in February 2025 and is located in Tengfei Park, Dalian High-Tech Zone. The centre supports Ben Line’s global operations in areas including documentation, finance, process management, automation systems and shared-service functions.

From a standing start, the Dalian team has grown to around 180 employees in just over a year. Huang said the number is expected to exceed 200 by the end of this year, with further expansion to follow as the group’s business continues to grow.

Creating new jobs for Dalian

For Dalian, the significance of Ben Line’s local presence is first reflected in employment.

Huang said graduates from Dalian’s universities have strong academic foundations and overall quality. For Ben Line, two qualities are particularly important: foreign-language capability and a willingness to keep learning.

The Dalian Centre of Excellence is already supporting not only China-related business, but also operations in Japan, South Korea and the wider North Asia region. In the future, it is expected to provide support to more Ben Line offices in Southeast Asia.

That means employees in Dalian are not only working for the local market. They are becoming part of Ben Line’s regional and global operating platform.

The jobs being created are also different from traditional logistics roles. They include shipping services, global shared services, documentation, finance, process management, customer service and automation support. This fits closely with Dalian’s ambition to develop higher-value maritime services as part of its role as a Northeast Asia international shipping centre.

Bringing real business into the classroom

A key purpose of the new training base is to move practical industry experience into the education process at an earlier stage.

Huang said Ben Line has already converted more than 20 interns from Dalian universities into full-time employees over the past year. This experience showed that early exposure to real business processes, real workflows and real job requirements can shorten the transition from university to the workplace.

Through the new base, Ben Line plans to open up real business cases, standard operating procedures and frontline operational needs to universities. The aim is to help students understand how the shipping and logistics industry actually works before they graduate.

At the launch event, Ben Line’s Dalian Centre of Excellence signed cooperation agreements with Dalian Maritime University and Dalian Minzu University. The cooperation will cover curriculum development, internship programmes, practical training and graduate employment.

The first training programme has already started with 36 students from Dalian Minzu University. Previously, seven students from the university had completed Ben Line’s training and joined the company.

A new model for maritime services talent

During the roundtable discussion, government, university and industry representatives agreed that Dalian has a strong maritime base and a deep pool of university talent. But the city still needs a more effective bridge between classroom learning, practical training and employment.

Wang Lili, Deputy Director of the Dalian Municipal Transportation Bureau, said maritime talent is an essential foundation for Dalian’s development as a Northeast Asia international shipping centre. In recent years, Dalian has been working to promote closer cooperation between government, universities and companies in maritime talent development.

Meng Tiexiang, Deputy General Manager of Liaoning Port Co., Ltd., noted that port companies often need a long period to train new graduates after recruitment. A platform such as the new training base can allow students to understand port, shipping and logistics operations earlier, reducing training costs for companies while improving employment outcomes for students.

For Ben Line, industry-education integration should not stop at recruitment. It should become a broader talent ecosystem involving government, universities, ports, logistics companies, ship agents, offshore engineering companies, certification bodies and industry experts.

Huang said companies and institutions across shipping, logistics and offshore engineering are welcome to take part in the training system. Through site visits, practical training and lectures by industry managers, students can gain earlier exposure to real industry scenarios and make more confident career choices.

Why Dalian?

Ben Line’s decision to build and expand its Centre of Excellence in Dalian reflects several factors: the city’s maritime heritage, its university resources, its policy support, and the talent base of Dalian High-Tech Zone.

Dalian High-Tech Zone has a high concentration of young talent, universities and research institutions, including Dalian University of Technology and Dalian Maritime University. It has become one of the most important innovation and talent hubs in Northeast China.

For Ben Line, Dalian offers a strong foundation for building a professional shared-service and maritime operations platform. For Dalian, the project brings not only jobs, but also international workflows, management systems and career pathways into the local talent ecosystem.

This is where the broader value lies.

The Dalian Centre of Excellence provides real global shipping and logistics operations. The High-Tech Zone provides policy, space and talent support. Universities provide the talent pipeline. Ports and other industry partners provide access to frontline maritime operations.

If this model continues to develop, Dalian could build a new template for maritime services talent: students gain practical exposure before graduation, companies secure a more stable and better-prepared workforce, and the city strengthens its position as a hub for international maritime services.

For a 200-year-old shipping company, Dalian is not just another office location. It is becoming a talent base, an operations platform and a bridge between China’s maritime education system and the global shipping industry.