The Seminar on Expanding the Application of Maritime Law (Recommended Draft) to Inland Waterway Transport and Vessels was successfully held in Guangzhou on 19 September 2018. The seminar was jointly hosted by Guangzhou Maritime Judges Associations and others and organized by Yang & Lin Co. Law Firm. Wang Yufei, member of the Party Leadership and Vice President of Guangzhou Maritime Court (GZMC), attended the seminar and delivered a speech.

In his speech, Vice President Wang pointed out that since it was put into implementation 26 years ago, Maritime Law has played an important role in safeguarding and promoting China's shipping industry and maritime trade economy. However, after over 20 years of tests from shipping and maritime judicial practices, it can no longer adapt to and meet the needs of the development of the domestic and international shipping economy. The amendment of Maritime Law, including its expansion to inland waterway transport and vessels, should be one of the focused issues to be studied by maritime law academe, the circle of the shipping practices and the maritime judicial circle.

Representatives held a heated discussion on the main problems existing in the inland waterway transport and the general ideas and basic principles of expanding the application of Maritime Law to inland waterways. They also put forward a system conception for the application of Maritime Law to inland waterways transport and vessels and made their comments on many issues including crew protection, limitation of liability, actual carrier, shipping to Hong Kong and Macao, cruise transport, among others.

Representatives called to expand the application of its relevant systems to inland waterways by the amendment of Maritime Law, so as to solve the problems existing in the current shipping practices and judicial practices and to promote the healthy development of inland waterway transport.