Cross-Strait ties are close geographically and culturally connected, and maritime exchanges have flowed in one continuous line since ancient times. Maritime culture is a shared spiritual treasure of people on both sides of the Strait. Zhao Baogang, vice president of Dalian Maritime University, said in an interview that the shipping industry is an important bond for cross-Strait economic and trade integration, and joint talent cultivation is the core lever for the coordinated development of cross-Strait maritime undertakings.
At present, barriers remain in the coordination of cross-Strait shipping industry standards. Combined with the global wave of green and intelligent shipping transformation, a talent skills system that in the past focused only on "being able to sail and repair ships" can no longer keep up with the industry's demand for interdisciplinary talent with knowledge of new energy, data analysis, and international compliance. Qualification barriers and capability gaps form the dual challenge for cross-Strait maritime talent co-cultivation. In Xiamen, exploration to break the deadlock is unfolding.
Breaking down systemic barriers
The first obstacle to cross-Strait maritime talent co-cultivation is not at sea, but in the rules. Under the International Maritime Organization (IMO) convention system, crew certificates must be issued by contracting states to gain global recognition. Crew certificates issued in China's Taiwan region are not certificates issued by contracting states and cannot be used for normal practice in the global shipping market. If Taiwanese compatriots want to enter the international cruise industry, they often choose to train and obtain certificates in Singapore, Malaysia, or the Philippines, and "high cost and long cycle" has become an invisible barrier.
In September 2023, the Management Committee of the Xiamen Area of the China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the Xiamen Maritime Safety Administration jointly issued several measures to support and encourage Taiwanese compatriots to come to Xiamen for crew training and certificate applications, responding to this pain point at the institutional level. The core logic of this document is clear and pragmatic: since Taiwanese compatriots need an internationally recognized certificate, Xiamen will provide a lawful, convenient, and low-cost channel to obtain one.
Xiamen Ocean Vocational College has become a key executor of this model. Relying on sea crew training qualifications certified by the Maritime Safety Administration of the Ministry of Transport, the college innovatively launched a segmented training model of "online theory in Taiwan plus offline practical operation in Xiamen." Taiwanese compatriots first complete online theory courses in Taiwan, then go to Xiamen for offline practical training. The practical training duration is 60% shorter than the traditional model, and the per capita training cost is reduced by 50%. Lin Jinhua, director of the Foreign Cooperation and Exchange Center of Xiamen Ocean Vocational College, calculated the difference: "It used to take 30 days to train in countries such as Singapore. Coming to Xiamen takes no more than half a month in total, and the cost is greatly reduced." The breakthrough of this model lies in the fact that it does not seek to change international rules, but instead opens a compliant alternative path for Taiwanese compatriots within the space allowed by the rules. After completing training in Xiamen and passing the assessment examination of the mainland maritime authorities, Taiwanese compatriots can obtain mainland crew certificates recognized by the IMO and truly obtain a "pass" to practice in the global shipping market.
Innovation in supporting systems is equally crucial. Xiamen pioneered the "one examination, four certificates" model for crew medical examinations nationwide, integrating the crew health certificate, international travel health certificate, vaccination prevention certificate, and employment medical examination certificate into a single examination. Customs, maritime authorities, and cruise companies mutually recognize the results. The medical examination fee has been reduced from 1,500 yuan to 980 yuan, and the time to obtain certificates has been shortened from more than 7 days to 2 days. At the same time, Xiamen established the mainland's first Taiwan-related maritime dispute resolution center to provide rights protection and legal consulting services for Taiwanese compatriots training in Xiamen.
The effect of breaking down systemic barriers is intuitive. As of June 2026, Xiamen Ocean Vocational College had held 19 Taiwanese youth crew classes in total, training 313 people, with a certificate acquisition rate of 97.2%. At present, 19 Taiwanese youth have achieved stable employment on cruise ships. From "going abroad for certification" to "coming to Xiamen for certification," what has changed is not only the route, but also the starting position of young people on both sides of the Strait in the maritime career track.
Reshaping capabilities
Solving the "qualification" problem is only the first step. The bigger challenge is that the industry itself is being redefined. "Future crew members are both navigators and operators and managers of intelligent systems," an expert from Qingdao Ocean Shipping Mariners College said at the review meeting for the country's first batch of intelligent ship crew management system documents. This sentence accurately summarizes the fundamental change in the capability structure of maritime talent: intelligent navigation system operation, data analysis, and assisted decision-making are becoming core skills for a new generation of crew members.
In May this year, the IMO formally adopted the International Code for Safety of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS Code), making clear that mandatory rules will be adopted before July 1, 2030. This means the time window for the maritime talent cultivation system to adapt to intelligent ships is less than four years. At the same time, this year, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued the Intelligent Shipping 2030 Action Plan, proposing to operate more than 100 intelligent ships by 2027.
The impact of the green transition on talent capabilities is equally severe. Ruan Wei, director of the Asian Maritime Technology Cooperation Center, pointed out at an industry seminar that China's seafarer cultivation currently has three core shortcomings: lagging specialized qualification training for new energy ships, a missing specialized curriculum system for shipping digitalization, and an incomplete practical operation and compliance system for new energy ships. The share of ships using alternative fuels such as LNG and methanol continues to rise, but crew members' reserves of capabilities in fuel storage, equipment operation, and emergency response are clearly insufficient. Cross-Strait maritime talent co-cultivation must respond to this need for capability reshaping.
At the 2026 Cross-Strait Maritime Culture Exchange Event, Yin Ming, vice president of Shanghai Maritime University, offered a representative judgment: "In the future, interdisciplinary talent who understand both maritime technology and intelligent management will be the scarcest resource in the industry. Cross-Strait institutions are highly complementary and should jointly cultivate a new generation of shipping elites adapted to the green and intelligent transformation through teacher-student exchanges and scientific research collaboration." During the 2026 Cross-Strait Maritime Culture Exchange Event, the Fujian maritime authorities released the "Five Fujian Maritime Measures," proposing to advance cross-Strait shipping talent training and standards interoperability and incorporate capability building into the institutional framework for cross-Strait shipping integrated development. This means that cross-Strait maritime talent co-cultivation is evolving from the initial stage of "mutual recognition of qualifications" to the deeper stage of "joint capability building."
Forging through practice
Even the most refined institutional design must ultimately answer a simple question: are talents "tested" into being, or "trained" into being? On June 14, at the water training center of Jimei University, drums resounded. Young seafarers from both sides of the Strait were mixed into groups, with twelve people sharing one boat, racing through the waves in a boat and raft competition. "This is my first time working in the same boat with mainland partners. From paddle strokes to drum rhythms, after only a short time of adjustment, our chemistry became better and better," one Taiwanese compatriot said after the race.
The value of this "working together in the same boat" goes far beyond the skills level. Knot tying, line throwing, water survival, and every practical contest test not only individual basic skills, but also trust and collaboration between partners across the Strait. When young people from both sides adjust their breathing and align their rhythm on the same raft, they are experiencing a kind of "joint capability building" beyond the classroom: shared judgment of wind and waves, immediate response to each other's movements, and tacit cooperation with the team's rhythm.
A deeper form of "joint capability building" takes place in the chain of industry-education integration. Xiamen has launched a full-chain service of "training, certification, and employment" for Taiwanese crew members, directly connecting training results with the hiring needs of cruise enterprises. As an international cruise crew service enterprise, Xiamen Hailu Maritime Service Co., Ltd. provides employment referrals for Taiwanese compatriots who complete training. International cruise companies such as Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruises, and MSC Cruises have become new starting points for Taiwanese compatriots' careers.
From breaking qualification barriers with a certificate, to reshaping capabilities through a curriculum system, to working together in the same boat in a raft race, the path explored by Xiamen is clear and pragmatic. It does not attempt to overcome all obstacles in one step, but at every point where effort can be made, it opens a door and builds a bridge for cross-Strait maritime youth.