[Photo/WeChat account: sd_photo]

Members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Shandong stated that Shandong should further care for the ocean, speed up the development of a strong maritime province and strive to take the lead in developing marine economy.

To that end they made suggestions on how to make better use of marine advantages and tap ocean potential.

Shandong is a big ocean province with its sea area the same as its land area. The abundance index of its ocean resources ranks first in the country. It has about a sixth of China’s coastline and about a fifth of its marine economy.

The added value of marine fishery, marine transportation and other industries ranks among the top in the country.

The ocean’s role in the national strategic layout and the economic structure of Shandong Peninsula is increasingly prominent.

CPPCC members stated that against such a background, Shandong must grasp the characteristics and trends of marine economic development. It should give policy and financial support to expanding the blue economy space and developing a strong maritime province.

[Photo/WeChat account: sd_photo]

The biggest advantage and greatest potential of Shandong province is the ocean. CPPCC members believe that there are still gaps in the scale and quality of marine resources development and utilization in the province compared with some developed marine economies at home and abroad. Ocean development has become an urgent need for Shandong as it seeks to achieve innovative, sustainable and leading development.

Zhang Guojun, a CPPCC member living in Shandong province, said that of the many ports in Shandong Qingdao port ranks among the top ten in terms of cargo throughput. Its operating efficiency is much higher than that of others. This is one of Shandong's advantages in developing marine economy.

He suggested that the ports in Shandong should be effectively integrated to give full play to the port and its logistics advantages.

Luan Xin, a CPPCC member and the deputy mayor of Qingdao, said that it is necessary to highlight industry support and accelerate the development of marine biomedicine, the shipbuilding industry, coastal tourism and maritime sports to build high-end marine industrial clusters. The level of marine technology still needs to be improved.