The Sixth Guangzhou Maritime Law Forum was held in Nansha, Guangzhou on the afternoon of August 30, 2023. This forum, convened by Guangzhou Maritime Court (GZMC), was one of the four parallel sessions of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Rule of Law Forum co-sponsored by Guangzhou Law Society, Guangdong Province Law Society and China Legal Exchange Center. The theme of the forum was "Maritime Justice Serving and Safeguarding the Construction of International Shipping Hub". About 100 guests attended the forum, including persons in charge of GZMC, Administrative Committee of Guangzhou Nansha Development Zone, Maritime Law Committee of All China Lawyers Association and Maritime and Aviation Committee of Guangzhou Lawyers Association, legal experts and scholars from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), as well as representatives of renowned companies. Meanwhile, the forum was also livestreamed and attracted over 301,000 clicks and views online as of the release date.

Ni Xuewei, Director of GZMC Research Office, presided over the forum. Xiao Zhixiong, Vice President of GZMC, released a series of achievements in foreign-related legal services, such as Maritime Trials of Guangzhou Maritime Court in 2022, the white book of Guangzhou Maritime Court on Trials of Sand Mining Cases (2020-2022), and Top Ten Typical Cases of Guangzhou Maritime Court Serving and Safeguarding the Construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

In the discussion session, many guests delivered speeches on topics such as exploration of legal issues concerning the cruise industry and passenger transport, legal regulation of oil pollution due to vessel collisions, application of laws on cargo damages in multimodal transport sections, integration of maritime law talent development with rule of law of the GBA, maritime justice and ad hoc arbitration − a preliminary exploration of evidence preservation and request, and several legal and practical issues of marine insurance contracts. These guests discussed, in detail and from different perspectives, the paths and outlooks for improving maritime justice services in an all-around manner to safeguard the construction of the GBA and an international shipping hub in Guangzhou. Attendees included Guo Ping, Professor of Law School of Sun Yat-sen University, Yang Yunfu, Director of Maritime Law Committee of All China Lawyers Association, Xu Chunlong, Chief Judge of Guangzhou Maritime Court Zhuhai Tribunal, Professor Zhang Min, Director of Maritime Law Research Center of Guangzhou Maritime University, Huang Hui, Director of Maritime and Aviation Committee of Guangzhou Lawyers Association, and Chen Leiming, Senior Partner of Kangda Guangzhou Law Firm.

According to Xu Chunlong, Chief Judge of Guangzhou Maritime Court Zhuhai Tribunal, the forum created a high-level dialogue mechanism and platform for legal experts and scholars, elites and representatives of renowned companies in the GBA, so that they could actively offer advice and suggestions on promoting the rule of law in the GBA, improving maritime legal services in Guangzhou, and building an international shipping hub in Guangzhou. The dissemination and conversion of outcomes of the forum would be conducive to activating the advantages of maritime legal talent resources in the GBA, optimizing the talent team building for foreign-related maritime justice, improving the work efficiency of foreign-related legal services and level of judicial services of maritime trials, and better serving the Belt and Road Initiative, the strategy of building a maritime power, and the development of the GBA.