Aerial photo taken on Nov. 25, 2021 shows the marine pasture in Qinzhou City in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By Staff Reporters

China's marine economy maintained rapid growth in 2021, with innovation capacity strengthened according to official data, which showed that the country's gross ocean product increased by 8.3 percent to over nine trillion RMB.

The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) reports that the total output of the marine economy accounts for 15 percent of the coastal areas' GDP, and contributed to eight percent of the country's GDP growth.

Mechanisms were improved to trigger sci-tech innovation in marine industry and application of sci-tech achievements, said Cui Xiaojian, deputy director of National Marine Data and Information Service (NMDIS) subordinate to the MNR.

For example, Shandong province established a fund, focusing on supporting original innovation, the application of sci-tech achievements and the cultivation of high-end marine sci-tech industrial projects.

Guangdong provides an annual special fund of 300 million RMB for marine economic development to support six industries, including engineering equipment, offshore wind power, marine electronic information, natural gas hydrate, marine biology, and public services.

Cui said that the industrial structure of the marine economy has been optimized. On one hand, emerging industries are enjoying strong growth. The added value of marine biomedicine, marine power and the seawater utilization industry climbed 18.7 percent, 30.5 percent and 16.4 percent year-on-year respectively.

On the other hand, traditional industries speed up transformation and upgrading. Progress has been made in the green development of the shipbuilding industry and smart ports construction. Orders of ships powered by green energy  made  up 24.4 percent of all China's ship orders in 2021, and 33 automated container terminals were built in eight ports including Xiamen, Qingdao, and Shanghai.

In addition, marine resources have contributed to the stable supply of fresh water, energy, and seafood. Offshore oil and gas production increased by 6.2 percent and 6.9 percent year-on-year, with offshore crude oil accounting for 78.2 percent of China's crude oil production expansion.

The development of marine clean energy has maintained a strong momentum. China's grid -connected offshore wind power capacity increased by 16.9 million kW, up 4.5-fold year-on-year, ranking first in the world in cumulative capacity.