Qingdao sees its future in the sea

After years of efforts, Qingdao is now reaping the reward with vibrant growth of its marine economy, said local officials .

"With advantages in R&D, innovation and a full-fledged eco-friendly marine industrial chain, Qingdao will be a leading city for China's ocean economy by 2016," said Li Qun, Party chief of Qingdao.

Li said with the launch of a national strategy to build up the nation's maritime power, Qingdao is facing unprecedented opportunities to upgrade its marine industries and reinvent itself as a global city.

Shipbuilding and the efficient use of its seawater resources are the key to the development of the city's marine economy, he added.

Qingdao has 711 kilometers of coastline, some 50 bays and nearly 70 islands, as well as a total sea area of 122,000 square kilometers.

The city is home to 30 percent of China's oceanographic research institutions, and half of the nation's top marine scientists, and it has been the recipient of half the nation's marine innovation awards.

Its marine biomedicine production accounts for 14.7 percent of the nation's total, while its marine engineering equipment production accounts for 9.5 percent of the nation's total.

The city's gross domestic product generated from marine sectors reached 296.02 billion yuan ($48.05 billion) in the first half of 2014, up 13.1 percent from the same period last year. Marine sectors now account for 19.3 percent of the city's total GDP.

Marine economy

A total of 18 sectors have shaped the industrial structure of Qingdao's marine economy. Of these, marine transportation, coastal tourism, marine equipment manufacturing and other ocean related products and materials manufacturing account for 68.7 percent of the city's overall marine GDP.

Marine transportation has long been Qingdao's primary strength, accounting for 20.1 percent of the total marine GDP. Led by Qingdao Port, the city had completed waterway freight volume of 708 tons, in the first half of 2014, up 19.84 percent from the same period in 2013.

Coastal tourism, whose economic contribution is second only to marine transportation, rebounded in the second quarter of 2014 following a decrease in the number of tourists in the first quarter. From January to June, a total of 28.5364 million visitors have contributed tourism revenue of 41.12 billion yuan, up 12.4 percent from the same period last year.

Due to a slowdown in petroleum refining, the growth rate of Qingdao's ocean related products and materials manufacturing fell by 1.1 percent in the first half of 2014 compared with 2013. Revenue from this sector had reached 56.14 billion yuan by June. However, marine equipment manufacturing has shown robust growth in 2014, producing a total revenue of 54 billion yuan from January to June, up 21.3 percent compared with the same period last year. Electronic equipment and fishery equipment took the lead in growth with revenue increasing 30 percent year-on-year. Container fabrication ranks second in marine manufacturing, while shipbuilding grew by 22.8 percent to reach 3.41 billion yuan in the first half of 2014. Marine biomedicine is another fast growing sector and Qingdao has given it considerable significance as it sees huge potential in this area.

To maintain strong growth in the long run, Qingdao has developed a series of talent recruitment and cultivation plans, including a cloud-computing center that offers a database for high-profile maritime professionals. The Marine Chemical Research Institute and the Institute of Oceanology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has also built a joint innovation center for research on coatings, materials and ecological marine farming.

Sustainability

To ensure sustainable development, Qingdao has made a range of efforts to protect the aquatic environment and restore its marine ecosystem. In 2013, the local government incorporated river quality improvement into its performance review, conducting regular monitoring at 25 testing staitons on the city's 22 rivers.

Some 96.3 percent of Qingdao's major pollution sources are now under constant online monitoring.

The city has also designated several sea areas for species conservation and has special protection areas at Qingdao West Coast National Ocean Park, Daguan Island and the Chaolian Island Ocean Reserves.

The government has also begun an array of actions to restore the ecosystem along Jiaozhou Bay including the coastline and seaside fisheries as well as reclaiming the ocean from illegal development.