The World Port Conference is scheduled to be held in Shanghai between May 21 and 27 this year, according to the Shanghai International Harbor (group) Co. Ltd.

The World Port Conference is held every other year. This will be the first time for China to host the conference.

Participants to the current session will be 1,000 officials and representatives from the Association of International Ports, government departments of various countries, world-famous shipping companies, port operators, the World Bank and others.

The conference will be organized by the Association of International Ports, which is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The association has 347 members including China's Shanghai, Qingdao and Dalian port cities.

The current conference will focus on such topics as the influence of economic globalization on harbor environment and shipping industry, port development, port security and diversified investment at port cities and port technical innovation. During the seven-day conference, the 24th International Port Exhibition, 22 technical panels and six special working meetings will be held. 

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2005)