SHANGHAI - Shanghai will speed up the construction of a world-class ports and airports cluster in the Yangtze River Delta, in a bid to build it into a world-class international shipping center, an official said Thursday.

The city also aims to promote de-carbonization and enhance cooperation with the international shipping industry, said Gong Zheng, mayor of Shanghai, at the 2021 North Bund Forum on international shipping.

Shanghai took the third place in the international shipping center ranking in the 2021 Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Center Development Index Report, which evaluated the comprehensive performances of 43 global cities with port and shipping services.

According to the city's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) on international shipping center construction, its annual container throughput will reach at least 47 million 20-foot equivalent units by 2025, the annual throughput of air-passenger travel will reach at least 130 million, and the annual throughput of cargo ships will reach 4.1 million tons or above.

Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, said digitalization is a key element that can bring the shipping industry into a new era by ensuring maritime safety, promoting environmental protection, managing cyber risks and improving operational efficiency.

Also at the forum, more than 10 companies and organizations, including COSCO Shipping, China Eastern Airlines and the Baltic and the International Maritime Council, signed the "2021 Shanghai Initiative" to safeguard the cross-border transportation of anti-epidemic materials while protecting the health and safety of workers involved, so as to gradually restore the global supply chain system.

"We must continue to work very closely together at the multilateral level to revitalize international exchanges and cooperation, and enhance the development of global tourism and trade to drive increased prosperity for all," said Stephen Creamer, director of the Air Navigation Bureau at The International Civil Aviation Organization.