Article One General Rules

Item 1 The name of the organization is 21st-Century Maritime Cooperation Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee).

Item 2 The Committee is a standing committee of United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific (hereinafter referred to as UCLG ASPAC) jointly initiated by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government. It is established after approval in April 2017 at the UCLG ASPAC Executive Bureau Meeting held in Catbalogan, the Philippines. It is a non-profit international organization composed of the members of UCLG and other cities and organizations that accept the Charter of the Committee. The site and the Secretariat of the Committee shall be permanently located in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China.

Item 3 The operation of the Committee shall abide by the Constitution and laws of the People’s Republic of China and shall be in accordance with the generally accepted rules and practices of UCLG.

Article Two Mission

Item 4 Mission

1. Build a platform. Based in UCLG ASPAC, the Committee will work with the coastal cities and local governments in Asia-Pacific and the world at large to jointly build the 21st-Century Maritime Cooperation Center, to set up the effective dialogue and linkage mechanism, to serve as an important platform of Belt and Road for the cities and local governments in Asia-Pacific and the world at large to share ideas and best practices on maritime cooperation and to help push forward the development of the Core Area of 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.

2. Integrate resources. The Committee will implement a batch of key projects with the involvement of different parties and take overall consideration in promoting cooperation in marine science and technology and protection of marine ecosystems. With the participation of UCLG members and international partners in the activities of the Committee, the resources in Asia-Pacific and the world at large will be integrated and the construction of 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road will be facilitated.

3. Promote exchanges. The Committee will deepen the cooperation among the coastal cities and local governments in Asia-Pacific and the world at large in fields such as: marine economy, marine conservation, waterway security, ports, disaster prevention and reduction and focus on industries such as marine aquaculture, fishing, aquatic products processing, marine engineering equipment, new energy and renewable energy, desalination of sea water, marine bio-pharmaceutical, environmental protection and maritime tourism, and jointly build the Marine Economy Development Demonstration Zone, Marine Science and Technological Park, Marina Resort and Marine Professionals Training Center.

4. Offer advice and suggestions. The Committee will strengthen studies on the subject of maritime cooperation and compile and publish reports on selected initiatives, so as to provide the cities and local governments in Asia-Pacific and the world at large with practical suggestions on maritime cooperation and help members enhance the scientific and technological innovation capacity.

The Committee also encourages the island nations in Asia-Pacific and throughout the world to be involved and supports these entities to develop their capacity and economic development.

Article Three Organizational Structure and Operational Mechanism

Item 5 Honorary Presidents, President and Co-Presidents

1. Two Honorary Presidents: President of UCLG and President of UCLG ASPAC

2. One President, serving as the principal representative of the Committee: Mayor of Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government

3. Roles of the President:

3.1. The President shall convene and preside over the meetings of the Council and the General Assembly. The President can appoint a representative to participate in statutory meetings on his/her behalf;

3.2. The President shall review the implementation of the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Council, and sign relevant documents of the Committee;

3.3. Between two meetings of the Council, in case of a major emergency, the President, or the representative appointed by the President, may convene a special meeting to make decisions on behalf of the Council.

4. Four Co-Presidents: In principle, the Co-Presidents comprise two representatives of UCLG ASPAC Members, one representative of the members from other UCLG regional sections, and one mayor of Fuzhou’s international friendship cities. On the basis of extensively soliciting opinions from the full members of the Committee by the President, a nomination list is formed through self-recommendation or recommendation of other members, and submitted to the General Assembly for the vote and approval.

5. Roles of the Co-Presidents:

5.1. The Co-Presidents shall put forward suggestions on the convening of meetings of the Council and the General Assembly;

5.2. The Co-Presidents shall be authorized to perform other duties on behalf of the President.

6. The term of office of the President and the Co-Presidents is 5 years, from the end of the last meeting of the General Assembly to the beginning of its next meeting. If, during this period, the President or the Co-Presidents cease to hold the positions in local governments or associations of local governments, their term of office shall automatically terminate on the date of the next meeting of the Council, at which the vacancy shall be re-discussed. The relevant resolution of the Council shall be notified to all members of the Committee.

Item 6 The Secretariat and Secretary-General

1. The Secretariat of the Committee is responsible for the organization, coordination and operation of the daily activities of the Committee. The Secretariat has one Secretary-General, who shall be a municipal leader in charge of foreign affairs of Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government. The term of office of the Secretary-General is 5 years, from the end of the last meeting of the General Assembly to the beginning of its next meeting. In addition to the Secretary-General, there is one Executive Deputy Secretary-General and three Deputy Secretary-Generals in the Secretariat. The Executive Deputy Secretary-General shall be the major leader of the department of Fuzhou Municipal People's Government in charge of foreign affairs, while the three Deputy Secretary-Generals shall be officials of departments of Fuzhou Municipal People's Government in charge of foreign affairs, marine fisheries, and “Maritime Fuzhou” development.

2. Roles of the Secretary-General:

2.1. The Secretary-General shall take overall responsibility for and guide the routine work of the Secretariat, formulate and implement the annual work plan, and carry out the decisions of the General Assembly and the Council;

2.2. The Secretary-General shall make decisions on important matters of the Secretariat;

2.3. The Secretary-General shall preside over or attend relevant meetings, entrusted by the President, the Co-Presidents, or the Council when necessary.

3. Roles of the Secretariat:

3.1. The Secretariat shall put forward suggestions on the formulation and revision of the Charter, and submit them to the General Assembly for deliberation;

3.2. The Secretariat shall carry out resolutions of meetings of the Council and the General Assembly;

3.3. The Secretariat shall formulate the annual work plan of the Committee, submit it to the meeting of the Council for deliberation, and then carry out the approved plan;

3.4. The Secretariat shall draft the work report of the Committee, and submit it to the meetings of the Council and the General Assembly for deliberation;

3.5. The Secretariat shall maintain the relationship with members, and inform members about the relevant activities of the Committee when necessary;

3.6. The Secretariat shall regularly report the work of the Committee at the meetings of the Executive Bureau or Council of UCLG ASPAC;

3.7. The Secretariat shall communicate with CPAFFC, the World Secretariat of UCLG, the secretariats of UCLG ASPAC and other UCLG regional sections, and other standing committees;

3.8. The Secretariat shall be responsible for other work assigned by the President, the Co-Presidents and the Council.

4. The Secretary-General administrative meeting mechanism

4.1. The Secretary-General administrative meetings shall be convened when necessary and called up by the Secretary-General or the Executive Deputy Secretary-General entrusted.

4.2. The personnel present at the meeting shall include: the Secretary-General, the Executive Deputy Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-Generals, the relevant staff of the Secretariat. Advisers and relevant experts may also be invited to the meeting when necessary.

4.3. The meetings shall be prepared by the Secretariat.

Item 7 Advisers

1. The advisers of the Committee shall include but are not limited to the representatives and officials of UCLG and its sections, scholars and experts in ocean-related fields and representatives of enterprises.

2. Organized by the Secretariat, the advisers shall provide the Secretariat with suggestions on the exchanges and cooperation activities, policy research, and topical research projects organized by the Committee.

3. The advisers shall be nominated by the Secretariat.

Item 8 General Assembly

1. The meeting of General Assembly shall be convened every five years. It is jointly convened and organized by the Secretariat and the host city of the meeting. Each member is entitled to assign a delegate to represent itself at the meeting. Cities and organizations that are not full members of the Committee can participate as observers, but shall not have voting rights. The General Assembly could be postponed or advanced with the approval of the Council if necessary.

2. The roles of the General Assembly include but are not limited to:

2.1. Deliberating over and voting for the formulation and revision of the Charter of the Committee;

2.2. Reviewing the report of the Committee’s work since the last meeting of the General Assembly and the work plan for the next stage;

2.3. Carrying out thematic discussions on major policy issues involving maritime cooperation, hearing relevant policy research reports and opinions from members, and formulating policy recommendations for member cities and local governments;

2.4. Voting to elect the President, the Co-Presidents, the Secretary-General and the Council members.

3. The resolutions of the General Assembly shall not come into effect unless voted and approved by over 50% of the full members present at the meeting. Associate members have no voting rights. Resolutions by the General Assembly are carried out under supervision of the Council.

Item 9 Council

1. The Council is the principal decision-making body of the Committee. It shall comprise 10-20 members, including the President, the Co-Presidents, the Secretary-General and the delegates of full members. In principle, the delegate of a full member must be the head of the member city or organization. The term of office of a council member is 5 years, from the end of the General Assembly’s last meeting to the beginning of its next meeting.

2. The President, the Co-Presidents and the Secretary-General of the Committee are ex-officio members of the Council. The remaining Council members, on the basis of voluntary application from full members of the Committee, will be selected by the President, the Co-Presidents and the Secretary-General, through discussion in consideration of members’ participation in the Committee’s activities and their contributions. The candidate list will then be submitted for the vote and approval at the meeting of the General Assembly.

3. Roles of the Council include but are not limited to:

3.1. Discussing and deciding the important matters of the Committee when the General Assembly is not in session;

3.2. Discussing and designing the development plan and the key projects of the Committee;

3.3. Carrying out work according to resolutions of the General Assembly, and ensuring the implementation of the overall policy of the General Assembly;

3.4. Deciding on the admission and cancellation of membership;

3.5. Deciding on the appointment of advisers;

3.6. Other relevant matters that shall be decided at the meeting of the Council.

4. The the Council shall meet at least once a year. It could be convened temporarily at the request of more than one third of the Council members. The venue and time of the meeting shall be determined in advance. The meeting information must be sent to all members of the Council at least one month in advance, indicating the agenda items. The session shall in principle be convened and presided over by the President, or it may also be convened and presided over by the Co-President or Secretary-General entrusted by the President. The resolution of the meeting of the Council shall not come into effect unless voted and approved by over 50% of the participating members. Each Council member shall have one vote for every agenda item.

Article Four Membership

Item 10 Categories of Membership

The members of the Committee comprise full members and associate members.

1. Full Members

Full members of the Committee should all be group members. Members of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and World Association of Major Metropolises (Metropolis), the international friendship cities and friendly exchanges cities of Fuzhou, and other cities and organizations in China and other countries that accept this Charter and are willing to actively participate in activities of the Committee could become full members of the Committee after application and approval.

2. Associate Members

Associate members of the Committee should all be non-governmental organizations. Universities, scientific research institutions, enterprises, civil society, etc., in China and other countries that accept this Charter and are willing to actively participate in activities of the Committee could become associate members of the Committee after application and approval.

Item 11 With the principle of voluntariness, the applicants shall submit their application forms to the Secretariat, and become members of the Committee after the vote and approval by the Council.

Item 12 Members shall be entitled to the following rights:

1. To vote for and be elected as the Co-Presidents and the Council members;

2. To vote on relevant resolutions of the Committee;

3. To participate in activities of the Committee and has the priority for services related to activities;

4. To obtain the information, materials, research results and other services provided by the Committee;

5. To make suggestions and exercise supervision to the Committee;

6. To submit the proposals on the important issues of maritime cooperation;

7. And other rights conferred by the Committee.

Item 13 Members shall fulfill the following obligations:

1. To comply with this Charter, and implement the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Council;

2. To protect the lawful rights and interests of the Committee, and support the activities organized by the Committee;

3. To provide true and reliable materials, information and situation to the Committee;

4. To actively participate in various meetings and activities organized by the Committee;

5. And other related obligations.

Item 14 With the principle of voluntariness, the members are granted unconstrained withdrawal, and shall give a written notice to the Secretariat of the Committee with 6 months prior. The members shall be regarded by default as withdrawing membership upon being absent from all activities of the Committee for 5 years. The membership thereof shall be canceled and all members notified, with the approval of the Council, upon their failure to perform the duties or to meet the requirements as the members of the Committee.

Article Five Internal Management

Item 15 The Committee authorizes the Secretariat to formulate internal systems on financial, stamp and archives management and to make provisions on the Committee’s obligation of financial management, fund approval authority, and management of stamp usage and archives.

Item 16 The fund sources include fiscal allocation, social donation and grants. The fund shall comply with the government’s budget and settlement management system. The fiscal fund shall be strictly managed and used according to the relevant management measures of fiscal funds of Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government. The social fund shall be managed and used according to the relevant requirements and regulations of the donors and the Committee in different circumstances.

Article Six Supplementary Items

Item 17 This Charter shall come into force after being voted upon and approved by the General Assembly. Amendments to this Charter shall come into force after the consultation with the Secretariat of UCLG ASPAC, the deliberation of the Council of the Committee, and the review and approval of the General Assembly.

Item 18 The Secretariat reserves the right of final interpretation of this Charter.