Shandong province, an economic powerhouse in China's east coastal regions, has placed great emphasis on the marine economy as it has become a new driving force for economic development, local media reported.

In 2020, the total output value of Shandong's marine sector reached 1.32 trillion yuan ($204.99 billion), accounting for 18.03 percent of Shandong's GDP and 16.48 percent of China's marine gross production value.

A US cargo ship docks at the Qingdao Port, Shandong province. [Photo by Yu Shaoyue/For China Daily]

Shandong's marine fishery, marine salt industry, marine biomedicine, marine power and marine transportation industry are ranked first in terms of scale in China.

Shandong is home to 54 national marine ranch demonstration areas, accounting for 40 percent of the country, ranking first in China. 

A marine ranch is a sea area within which fishermen use large-scale fishery facilities and systematic management systems to breed marine resources such as fish, shrimp, shellfish and algae.

The province has a leading position in adopting intelligent marine equipment breeding in China. According to official data, by the end of 2020, the comprehensive economic income of Shandong marine ranches had exceeded 250 billion yuan.

The province is also promoting the integration of marine ranches with cultural tourism and breeding aquatics to boost the high-quality development of the marine economy. Intelligent technologies such as 5G communications, artificial intelligence, and internet of things have been applied to marine ranches.

In 2020, the cargo throughput of coastal ports in the province reached 1.69 billion tons, ranking second in China. The Shandong Port Group is connected to more than 700 ports in more than 180 countries and regions in the world.

Shandong has stated in its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) that the development of its marine economy is an important strategy to fuel local high-quality development. The term "ocean" appeared more than 130 times in the new five-year plan.

Shandong will make more efforts to propel sustainable development of its ocean economy. More measures will be implemented to promote land-sea coordination, help major industries improve the modern marine economic structure, fuel technology innovation, and improve marine financial innovation, said local officials.