The booming fishery industry in Rongcheng, East China's Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

How to further develop marine economy

The road of development to the no.1 fishery county was not always smooth. Although fishery companies in Rongcheng have grown in size in the industrial marine economy chain, they still lack pricing power due to the historically formed fishery structure focusing on seafood exports and OEM processing.

"Especially around 2010, fishermen in Rongcheng began to feel the market for raw material export shrinking under the impact of exchange rates, tariff barriers, and international financial crisis," said Zhang Zhixin. Therefore, fishery companies in Rongcheng began to seek breakthroughs in fine finishing and establish corresponding industrial clusters.

"In the past, tuna bones and skin were sold only as raw fishmeal for several yuan per kilogram. Now as they are made into food at a price dozens of times higher than before. Extracted collagen powder and collagen peptide are sold at over a thousand yuan per kilogram, hundreds of times higher than the raw material," Said Ye Hua, sales manager of Lanrun Biotechnology Co Ltd.

So far, Rongcheng has developed three major industrial clusters: marine biological products, new marine biological materials, and marine biological medicine. Focused on switching from old to new dynamics, carrying out industrial transformation and upgrading, developing high-end marine products, and expanding mid to high-end markets are some of the ways Rongcheng can develop its marine economy.

"If resources give Rongcheng’s ocean industry a broad dimension, science and technology serve to considerably deepen it," according to Tang, who adds that technology and management are the key elements for China to develop marine economy and strive to be a maritime power.

Facing the future, adhering to the concept of green development, and promoting the coordinated development of the marine economy, resources and environment will become an important issue for the further reform and development of Rongcheng. Rongcheng has now invested more than 2 billion yuan to renovate the coastlines of Ailianwan, Sanggouwan and Dongchu island, effectively improving the ecological environment of the coastal areas. The seawater quality has reached level II of the national standard.

At Ailunwan National Marine Ranch, fishermen have changed their position from "selling products" to "selling seascapes." Since the beginning of the summer, thousands of visitors have been traveling here on a daily basis for the unique experience of "cultivating and pasturing on the sea."