The China-EU Blue Forward Fund aims to accelerate the industrialization of marine science achievements. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2025 World Ocean Week in Xiamen kicked off on Nov 6 at the Xiamen International Conference Center Hotel under the theme "new engine of blue development for the maritime community with a shared future".

The event emphasizes integrating global trends with Xiamen's local strengths and introducing international resources.

The opening ceremony featured three sessions: guest remarks, keynote speeches, and achievements release, highlighting Xiamen's role in developing a national marine economic demonstration zone and presenting China's latest innovations in marine science and technology.

During the achievements release session, the Fujian Ocean Innovation Center announced the launch of the China-EU Blue Forward Fund. Jointly initiated by the Fujian Ocean Innovation Center, Seventure Partners from France and other investment institutions, the fund raised an initial 2 billion euros ($2.31 billion).

The fund will target key areas of the sustainable blue economy, such as marine information, digital twin technologies, and the blue carbon economy.

The APEC Marine Sustainable Development Center launched the APEC Marine Sustainable Development Report III, a key public knowledge product that comprehensively reviews progress in implementing the United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Goals across the Asia-Pacific region.

The DePTH-GPT provides intelligent solutions for deep-sea exploration and conservation. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The State Oceanic Administration unveiled the DePTH-GPT, a large multimodal model designed for intelligent exploration and analysis of deep-sea habitats.

Developed as a key outcome of the UN Ocean Decade endorsed programme, "Digital DEeP-sea Typical Habitats", it uses digital and AI technologies to address the scarcity of deep-sea data, enabling intelligent simulation and prediction of deep-sea ecosystems and the creation of a digital smart ocean.

The National Satellite Ocean Application Service launches SkyOcean, an AI-powered large model for ocean research. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]