The sea breeze sweeps across China's vast coastline, heralding the emergence of dynamic marine industrial belts. Recent policy directives from the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee have prioritized "land-sea coordination," "enhancing maritime capabilities," and "promoting high-quality development of the ocean economy to build China into a maritime power" as key components of the nation's five-year development plan. This strategic pivot toward the ocean has unleashed tangible momentum—China's marine GDP surpassed 10.5 trillion yuan in 2024, entering the "10-trillion-yuan era," with growth continuing into 2025, reaching 7.9 trillion yuan in the first three quarters. The ocean economy's sustained outperformance of the national GDP underscores its role as a pillar of high-quality development.
**Opening to the Sea: Industrial Breakthroughs Under National Strategy** China's marine economy is undergoing a transformative leap, driven by both industrial trends and strategic realignment. Along the "blue territory," new growth hubs, innovation corridors, and industrial chains are taking shape.
In Ningbo's Beilun District, the Meishan International Cold Chain Hub—East China's largest standalone冷链logistics facility—exemplifies this shift. Automated forklifts glide through -60°C warehouses, while integrated customs platforms slash clearance times for goods like salmon from 20 minutes to just 2 minutes. With 58 temperature-controlled inspection channels handling 200 containers daily, global delicacies now reach Chinese tables with unprecedented freshness.
Shanghai's Yangshan Port epitomizes higher-level openness. At its Phase IV automated terminal, 155 driverless AGVs orchestrate a symphony of precision under the "superbrain"智能terminal operating system (ITOS), boosting annual throughput capacity from 6.3 million to 7 million TEUs, with 8 million in sight. Workers like national model laborer Huang Hua have transitioned from manual crane operators to remote-control managers of "steel giants."
Shenzhen's SCT码头showcases LNG bunkering coverage across container ports, while Qingdao Port's AI-powered 3D "e-ship maps" have increased unloading efficiency by 20%, recently setting a world record by handling 51,676 tons of pulp in 24 hours.
**Blue Foundations: Ecological and Cultural Symbiosis** Beyond ports, coastal regeneration is redefining value. In Liaoning's Dalu Island, the demolition of 700-acre sea cucumber enclosures—once lucrative but ecologically damaging—has revived local fisheries and birthed a new economic trinity: tourism, aquaculture, and fishing.
Shandong's寿光盐田blends ancient and modern, with automated harvesters working alongside millennia-old salt-making heritage, now part of a "sea-salt cultural tourism belt." Meanwhile,连云港's Antarctic krill industry—powered by the state-of-the-art "Deep Blue" vessel—has harvested 143,000 tons since 2022, bridging polar resources to Chinese tables via a 2-billion-yuan value chain.
**Innovation for Livelihoods** The ocean economy's ascent anchors in industrial robustness and民生improvements. In 2025's first three quarters, China's shipbuilding sector held 63.5% of global new orders, while offshore wind power capacity surged 42.1%. Investments in maritime projects hit 641.9 billion yuan, covering 262,000 hectares.
Technological重塑is everywhere:连云港's AGV robots and智能parking towers, Ningbo's冷链hubs ensuring affordable global食材, and寿光's "solar-over-salt" model generating 70 million kWh annually while decarbonizing traditional盐业.
From the Bohai Rim to the Beibu Gulf, China's coastline tells a story of港口growth, ecological-industrial synergy, and innovation-tradition fusion. Salt, seafood, energy, and culture—these elemental threads weave the ocean economy into daily life, enriching households, empowering cities, and painting the maritime canvas of Chinese modernization.
In the ebb and flow of tides, a more resilient, creative, and future-oriented maritime China is rising from the deep blue.
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