By Staff Reporters

Building China into a strong maritime nation is a high priority in its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025). This is evidenced by a series of advancements over the past five years, with the support and guidance of sci-tech innovation in marine economic development, marine technological innovation and marine ecological protection.

Marine economy

The new generation 100,000-tonne smart aquaculture vessel can load 200,000 juvenile fish into the breeding hold in just 10 minutes, while the annual gas production of Deep Sea No.1 gas field is expected to exceed 4.5 billion cubic meters. These are just some examples of the wealth of opportunity that lies beneath the ocean, driving the momentum of China's marine economy.

In the first quarter of 2025, the output of aquatic products across the country increased by 4.5 percent year-on-year.

In 2024, China's marine GDP exceeded 10 trillion RMB. The amount of new orders received, delivered orders and orders on hand for marine engineering equipment increased by 143 percent, 10.5 percent and 20 percent respectively year-on-year. This ensured China's international market share in marine economy remained the world's leader for seven consecutive years.

Meanwhile, the research and development of marine drugs is advancing, such as the anti-tumor polysaccharide drug BG136 and the new anti-hepatitis B virus drug LY102.

Technological innovation has also become the core driving force for the development of the marine economy. Even traditional industries like aquaculture are increasingly adopting advanced technologies, said Professor Luan Weixin from Dalian Maritime University.

Major projects

Over the past five years, sci-tech innovation has played a key role, with several key milestones. 

This can be found in the development of polar icebreakers, scientific expedition vessels, deep-sea diving equipment as well as oil and gas platforms,

?In 2022, China developed the world's first amphibious unmanned aerial vehicle, Nezha, that flies, hovers and dives underwater.

?In 2023, the main line of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, a mega cross-sea passage in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, was fully connected.

?In 2024, Qinling Station in Antarctica, China's fifth research station on the continent, began operation, while the country's first domestically designed and built deep-sea drilling vessel, Dream, was commissioned.

?In 2025, the second phase of Deep Sea No.1 gas field became fully operational.

Looking ahead, it is necessary to continuously tackle core technologies, deploy major marine projects, and strengthen the construction of innovation platforms, and ultimately promoting innovation-driven development.

Green development

Coral reefs, known as "tropical rainforests on the seabed,” are one of the most biodiverse marine ecosystems. In recent years, scientists from Guangxi University have been protecting and restoring the coral reefs on Weizhou Island, in south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. They built a 2,000-square-meter demonstration area, successfully curbing the degradation of coral reefs. In just three years, the coverage rate of living coral in the area increased from about five percent to 20 percent.

From north to south, along China's long coastline, a series of practices are being taken to protect the marine ecology. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), China has to date supported nearly 200 major projects for marine ecological protection and restoration, driving the improvement of almost 1,780 kilometers of coastline and over 795,000 mu of coastal wetlands. In addition, 138,000 mu of mangroves have been planted.

Technology provides significant support to marine ecological protection. An independently developed environmental monitoring buoy has been in continuous operation for 20 months. The Shouwangzhe-1 tsunami warning surface buoy connects to the recording platform operating at a depth of 5,100 meters on the seabed, forming part of a national marine observation network.

According to the MNR, the country will continue enhancing innovation in marine science and technology, modernizing marine industries, and comprehensively promoting the construction of marine culture.