MARAD CHIEF LEADS MARITIME TALKS IN CHINA

MARAD CHIEF LEADS MARITIME TALKS IN CHINA    Capt. William G. Schubert, head of the Maritime Administration, will lead a U.S. government delegation of MarAd and State Department officials to Beijing this week to talk with the Chinese government about its new regulations for international maritime transportation.
   In December, China’s Ministry of Communications issued “sweeping” new regulations for U.S. and other non-Chinese maritime companies, such as carriers, shippers, freight forwarders and non-vessel-operating common carriers, operating in the country.
   In addition, the U.S./China meeting on March 19-21 will include discussions on U.S. ocean carrier operations in China, which the United States said have been restricted by Chinese government controls for several years. Carriers have complained about controls on their vessel and intermodal operations in China.
   Some industry officials have expressed concern about MarAd’s role in the talks with China. They believe that this issue of the new China shipping rules comes under the jurisdiction of the Federal Maritime Commission and State Department, not MarAd.