On the morning of November 11, William Ward, chief executive officer of clipper round the world yacht race, visited Qingdao. Zang Aimin, executive vice president of Qingdao Olympic Sailing City Development Association and vice chairman of Qingdao major international sailing events (festivals) organizing committee, met with guests in the conference room of Qingdao Sailing management center. Liu Yu, deputy bureau level leader of Qingdao Municipal Sports Bureau and Executive Secretary General of the organizing committee, Yuan Zhiping, Deputy Secretary General of Qingdao Olympic Sailing City Development Promotion Association and Executive Deputy Secretary General of the organizing committee, and relevant principals of Qingdao Sailing management center attended the meeting.

Zang Aimin welcomed the arrival of William Ward. She said that William is an old friend of the Qingdao people and has promoted the development of Qingdao and even the global sailing industry in many ways. Zang Aimin said that he hopes more international sailing events with great popularity and influence like the clipper round the world Regatta will be settled in Qingdao. William Ward thanked Qingdao for its warm reception. He said he hoped that the two sides would carry out further cooperation, jointly promote more long-term friendly cooperative relations, further build communication bridges, and explore the way for deeper cooperation and exchanges in sailing and navigation. During the talks, the two sides exchanged in-depth views and discussed issues related to the follow-up cooperation of clipper Regatta.

It is reported that clipper round the world sailing race is"the most influential sailing race in the world" and"the largest amateur round the world sailing race". Since its founding in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox Johnston, the clipper round the world yacht race, with a voyage of 40000 nautical miles, has become one of the most famous round the world sailing events. In the third race of clipper round the wld yacht race in 2019-2020 season and the race from este Cape Town station in Uruguay to Cape Town station in South Africa, Qingdao took the lead in crossing the finish line near Cape Town at 15:06:12 on November 8, Beijing time, winning the champion of the third race, further consolidating its position in the top of the total points list.

Also on the afternoon of November 11, Dong Quan, Deputy Secretary General of Qingdao municipal government and Secretary General of the organizing committee, accompanied William Ward, chief executive officer of clipper round the wld yacht race, to visit relevant facilities in Qingdao West Coast new area.