(China Economic Roundtable) China's marine economy makes steady progress in H1: official

BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's marine economy made steady progress in the first half of 2025, said Gu Wu, an official with the Ministry of Natural Resources, on Wednesday.

Gu made the remarks when speaking on the latest episode of the China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency.

According to preliminary calculations, China's gross ocean product (GOP) grew 5.8 percent year on year to 5.1 trillion yuan (about 714.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of this year, data from the Ministry of Natural Resources showed.

China's marine economy achieved a significant milestone in 2024, with its GOP exceeding 10 trillion yuan for the first time, according to data from the ministry. China's GOP had reached 10.54 trillion yuan in 2024, marking an increase of 5.9 percent from the previous year.

Notably, the service sector was the largest contributor to the marine economy in 2024, contributing 59.6 percent of the total GOP. Marine manufacturing emerged as a key driver, accounting for over 30 percent of the total GOP.

Shandong, the eastern coastal province, reported a GOP of 1.8 trillion yuan in 2024. It leads all Chinese regions in the added value of seven marine-related industries, including marine fisheries, marine power generation, and marine transportation.

Wang Rentang, head of the Oceanic Administration of Shandong Province, told the roundtable that the province's ports achieved a milestone in terms of cargo throughput last year.

The cargo throughput of Shandong's ports exceeded 2 billion tonnes in 2024, ranking first among all Chinese regions for three consecutive years, official data showed.

Underlining its strategic importance, China has firmly placed the marine economy on the national agenda. A high-level meeting in early July saw Chinese leadership emphasize that advancing Chinese modernization necessitates "promoting the high-quality development of the marine economy" alongside pursuing "a Chinese path of leveraging marine resources to achieve strength."

Policymakers highlighted five priority areas at the meeting: innovation-driven growth, enhanced coordination, industrial renewal, harmony between human activities and the ocean, and win-win cooperation. ■