(Yicai) Oct. 23 -- China should establish a national investment fund to address the shipping industry's severe financing difficulties, according to the president of Dalian Maritime University.

The fund would guide private capital into ship renewal, green technologies, smart shipping, and projects to strengthen the industrial chain, Shan Hongjun said at the annual North Bund Forum on Oct. 20.

China’s fiscal and tax support policies for its shipping industry are mainly short-term incentives and are not well suited to its long cycles and high risks, while cross-border financial rules on accounts, capital flows, and risk controls still lag what global shipping businesses need, Shan said.

Chinese shipping companies are exposed to considerable exchange rate risks as 85 percent of international shipping transactions are settled in US dollars and they lack smooth cross-border payment channels, he said.

Shan also suggested that Chinese financial institutions establish special credit lines for shipping firms, leveraging low-cost and long-term funds to drive the high-quality development of China's shipping industry.

In addition, he urged fast-tracking an internationally compatible green-shipping certification system that aligns with international practices and also suits China’s own conditions.

"Due to the lack of recognized technical standards, evaluation methods, and information disclosure norms, financial institutions still struggle to accurately assess the maturity of green technologies, the reliability of their emission reduction efficiency, and the stability of asset residual values," Shan said.

"This is seriously hindering large-scale capital inflows into green, low-carbon, and intelligent upgrading projects.”

The North Bund Forum is a global shipping and aviation industry gathering held each year in Shanghai. This year’s three-day event ended on Oct. 21.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione