On June 3, Chunhu Sub-district of Fenghua, Ningbo, joined hands with the Business School of Ningbo University to host the environmental exchange event Ocean Partner · Exchange Between Chinese and Western Perspectives. International students from Indonesia, Morocco, Tanzania and other countries visited Fenghua to learn about local effective practices for marine ecological conservation and experience the unique charm of marine culture.

 

The first stop of the event was Zhanghu Village in Chunhu Sub-district, where students enjoyed an immersive fishery culture experience. At a DIY bead-mosaic workshop with marine themes, the students concentrated on crafting vivid shapes of marine creatures, filling the venue with a lively and joyful atmosphere. After the hands-on session, they savored local delicacies including seafood rice tofu, braised octopus and seaweed rice cakes, getting a taste of Fenghua’s profound coastal food culture.

 

Following the fishery cultural experience, the students headed to the Ocean Partner eco-station in Qifeng Village to investigate Fenghua’s innovative marine pollution governance model. As a key fishing hub on the north bank of Ningbo Bay, Chunhu boasts a coastline stretching over 20 kilometres and nearly a thousand high-powered fishing boats. For years, marine plastic waste pollution has posed a major obstacle to the health of offshore ecosystems.

 

In June 2023, the Ocean Partner eco-station developed by Ningbo Topcentral New Materials Co., Ltd. was officially put into operation in Qifeng Village, Chunhu. It has built a full closed-loop management system covering the collection, storage, transportation, recycling and finished product manufacturing of marine plastic waste, forming a solid safeguard for offshore ecological protection.

 

Inside the eco-station, interpreter Liu Yalan showed the students plastic waste retrieved from the sea and gave a detailed walkthrough of the whole industrial chain: waste sorting, packing and transport, regeneration into plastic pellets, and final production into traceable daily necessities and trendy apparel. Equipped with intelligent recycling lockers that precisely separate metals, fishing gear plastics and general plastic waste, paired with a digital carbon point platform, the site operates a smart, refined marine waste recycling system.

 

A senior official from Chunhu Sub-district, Fenghua District, stated that the event uses marine environmental protection as a bridge to boost cultural exchange between China and the rest of the world. It showcases Fenghua’s real-world efforts in marine eco-conservation to an international audience and demonstrates that the vision of green development transcends national boundaries and unites people globally.