An aerial view of Changdao Island. [Photo/IC]

The government of Shandong province recently approved the establishment of the Changdao "Blue Granary" Marine Economic Development Zone, which is China's first offshore economic development zone. The zone spans 170 square kilometers on Changdao Island in Yantai city.

Shandong's marine economy is currently ranked second in the country, and its national-level marine ranches account for nearly 40 percent of the total in China.

"The ocean is the driving force, advantage, and potential for Shandong's development," said Wang Rentang, deputy director of the Shandong Ocean Bureau.

The establishment of the marine economic development zone will integrate advantageous resources, promote the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, and lead to the creation of a highly competitive modern marine new economy, he added.

Liang Yong, vice-mayor of Yantai, said that there will be 50 deep-sea farming net cages and over 3 million cubic meters of farming water in the marine economic development zone by 2035. A systematic layout of new digital infrastructure will also be established to achieve precise digital management of marine ecological protection, disaster forecasting, and marine ranching.

Zhang Qingwei, deputy director of the Department of Commerce of Shandong, stated that the marine economic development zone will have a "1+N" industrial layout - "1" refers to the offshore farming area and "N" refers to industrial supporting bases like breeding bases, processing and logistics bases, and aquaculture equipment manufacturing bases.