On September 4~17, the first conference of intergovernmental negotiation for “drawing up a legally binding international instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) under the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” was held at the UN Headquarters. Invited by the Fisheries Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, professor Tang Yi from the College of Marine Culture and Law of SHOU attended the conference as a member of the Chinese Government delegation.

As the first intergovernmental conference held according to Resolution 72/249 of 2017 United Nations General Assembly, this conference aims to discuss the proposal raised by the preparatory committee of BBNJ on June 19, 2015 in its Resolution 69/292, that is, to create the elements and legal text of a legally binding document for the conservation and sustainable use of BBNJ according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The conference was open to all the member states of the UN, the contracting parties of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the members of specific institutions, and relevant international institutions, entities, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations may also attend the conference as observers. The Chinese delegation was led by Ma Xinmin, Deputy Director of the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and composed of fully authorized representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Maritime Rights and Interests Leading Group of the CPC Central Committee, the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Fisheries Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China Ocean Mineral Resources R & D Association, the Institute of Maritime Strategy Development of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Third Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Wuhan University, Xiamen University, SHOU, etc.

This conference discussed the theme defined by the package plan agreed upon in 2011, that is, the conservation and sustainable use of BBNJ (especially the conservation and sustainable use of all marine genetic resources as a whole). It covers the marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction and their benefit sharing, the zoning management tools (including marine conservation areas), the environmental impact assessment, the capacity building and marine technology transfer and other measures. Based on the problem-based document of the Chairman, the conference discussed the above four aspects as four topics by informal working groups. After that, based on the viewpoints and suggestions presented after discussion, the Chairman organized the drafting of a document without definite conclusions for discussion at the second conference. The second and third conferences of the intergovernmental negotiation of BBNJ are planned to be held in March and August, 2019.