Stories of High-Quality Development | Marine economy: An endless source of blue growth momentum

From the seafood market around the corner to the weekend by the sea, these seemingly ordinary slices of daily life are all connected to the same grand theme: the marine economy.

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China's gross ocean product exceeded 11 trillion yuan ($1.64 trillion) in 2025. What exactly is the marine economy? Shi Suixiang, director-general of the National Marine Data and Information Service, explained the concept as he hosted People's Daily's "Stories of High-Quality Development" recently. The landscape of the marine economy encompasses resources close to our lives such as fish, shrimp, shellfish and seaweed, bays and tidal flats. It also includes major national equipment like offshore wind power and deep-sea exploration equipment. Any industry built on marine resources is part of the marine economy, which turns valuable blue resources into benefits for people's lives and drivers of industrial growth.

Why should we develop the marine economy? China has a long coastline, and the ocean is a precious blue territory. As the space for land resource development gradually shrinks, developing the ocean has become essential for sustaining growth, expanding development space and safeguarding security. High-quality coastlines and clean waters depend on ecological protection. Protecting the ocean means safeguarding the livelihoods of future generations.

The sixth meeting of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs, held on July 1, 2025, pointed out that to promote the high-quality development of the marine economy, there should be a greater focus on innovation-driven growth, efficient coordination, industrial renewal, harmony between people and the sea, and win-win cooperation. These five priorities are important principles for advancing the high-quality development of China's marine economy.

What should we do to develop the sea and the marine economy? The answer lies in three real-world stories.

China's wind turbines venture into the deep sea

In 2025, China accounted for nearly three-quarters of new global wind power capacity. But nearshore wind development is nearing its limits. More than 80 percent of the world's offshore wind resources lie farther out, in deeper waters, where fixed-bottom turbines cannot stay firmly in place. How can we harness wind power in deep and distant waters?

OceanX, a dual-rotor floating wind power platform, provided an answer.

If turbines can't stay in place, make them float. According to Zhou Mingjun, deputy chief designer of OceanX, keeping them standing in the wind and afloat in waves came down to two major challenges. The first was keeping the concrete floaters steady. Steel is too expensive, and ordinary concrete cannot withstand seawater. Therefore, the team innovatively used their proprietary ultra-high-performance concrete, which has four times the strength of ordinary concrete. The second challenge was keeping the two rotors from working against each other. The team fitted the platform with "three brains" to keep the rotors spanning 369 meters in sync.

The platform sits 70 kilometers offshore, which means the electricity must first be stepped up in voltage, then transmitted through submarine cables and stepped up again before reaching shore and connecting to the grid. From the floating platform to the dynamic submarine cables and the remote monitoring systems, every link is crucial.

So far, OceanX has withstood multiple typhoons, including Yagi, Ragasa and Matmo, proving it can stay afloat, stand firm and hold its position.

According to Wang Kai, a professor at School of Ocean Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, from the industry's perspective, OceanX proved that wind in distant, deep waters can be tamed. It also validated the feasibility of China's dual-rotor floating wind power technology and expanded offshore wind development from nearshore areas into deeper and more distant waters.

Only by mastering core technologies can we go global with confidence. In 2022, the Beleolico project, the Mediterranean's first commercial offshore wind farm, was connected to the grid. Chinese technology and experience have taken root in the Mediterranean.

According to Shi, the deep sea is no longer an untouched frontier for wind power development, but a new strategic industrial space. The capabilities of China's marine equipment chain, from design and materials to construction, operation and maintenance, are being consolidated. With Chinese wind turbines now operating in the Mediterranean, this industrial system has begun to demonstrate global competitiveness.

Mussel farming drives integrated land-sea development

In the early morning, mussel farming boats weave among aquaculture rafts in the sea off Gouqi Island in Shengsi, east China's Zhejiang Province. Fisherman Ye Dingguo has spent 44 years working these waters.

"In the early years, farming mussels was a constant battle against the forces of nature," Ye recalled. When a typhoon hit, whole stretches of rafts and buoys would be destroyed, and half a year's work could be gone in a single night. Even in good weather, "the market could crash without warning, and if you couldn't sell your mussels, they would just rot on the boat," Ye said. "Sometimes you couldn't even cover the shipping costs."

Back then, the island's small farmers all worked on their own and quality was inconsistent, so a good harvest rarely meant a good income.

Then, gradually, Ye came to understand that the answers to those problems are often found on shore. In 2012, he took the lead in establishing a cooperative, bringing the small independent farmers together under unified standards and a unified brand.

Ye also set out to tackle pollution. Foam buoys shatter when they are hit by wind and waves, leaving microplastics drifting on the sea surface. He visited several plastics factories, drew up designs and tested materials himself, and eventually developed new eco-friendly buoys and hull plates. By the end of 2023, all of the cooperative's foam buoys had been replaced. Information on all the farming plots was entered into a digital aquaculture management platform, giving a clear view of data about the mussels, including the owner, location and density.

Support has also flowed steadily from shore to sea. In 2024, the county carried out its first round of assessment and certification for skilled marine aquaculture workers. On the strength of his skills, Ye was certified as a "senior aquaculture master" and recognized as a county-level Class U talent, which came with access to technical training and credit support. He has since renewed his equipment and expanded his operation. Zhejiang Ocean University and Shanghai Ocean University set up laboratories by the shore. New technologies such as triploid breeding and offshore artificial upwelling devices were put into practice, and 27 industry challenges were tackled one by one. Before a typhoon hits, an early-warning platform sends out alerts in advance. In addition, individuals only need to pay 25 percent of the premium for the mussel farming insurance, and the rest is covered by government subsidies at various levels.

"What needs to be harvested is harvested, and what needs to be reinforced is reinforced," Ye said. "When disaster strikes again, we'll feel secure."

Most importantly, the mussels now fetch good prices. In the past, farmers only sold raw materials, with whole boatloads hauled away at prices set by others. Today, with automated sorting, large mussels longer than 9 centimeters are made into "butterfly mussel kings." A single one now sells for as much as a whole catty (0.5 kilograms) did in the past. Live mussels in oxygenated water are supplied directly to well-known supermarkets nationwide. The move from selling raw materials to selling a brand relies on the combined support of onshore policy, science and technology, finance and the market.

"The sea sustains the people, and the 'brain' on shore sustains the sea," Ye said. "That's what integrated land-sea development means to me."

According to Shi, in the past, farmers worked alone and at the mercy of the weather. Today, policies provide a safety net, technology reaches the grassroots, finance empowers growth and brands add value. Innovation from the shore has crossed the sea, connecting the entire chain from seedling cultivation and farming to processing and distribution.

"Integrated land-sea development is not simply about bringing land-based resources offshore, but about using expertise from the shore to redefine the way marine production is organized," he said.

Barren coastal flats transformed through marine conservation and rural revitalization

More than 50 years ago, the tidal flats in Haifeng village, Tongzhou Bay, Jiangsu Province, were a saline-alkali wasteland where nothing would grow. Gu Dongju is the village's Party secretary and head of the villagers' committee. Her father's generation carried mud on their shoulders and dug ditches to drain the salt. One spade and one basket at a time, they worked for nearly 20 years to turn the wasteland into farmland.

"Back then, their goals were simple," said Gu. "They just wanted the land to grow enough grain to keep their families fed."

In the 1980s, the villagers followed the trend of clam farming. "Everyone thought that stocking more seedlings and adding more feed would bring a good harvest," Gu said. But feed could not keep up, and disease followed. Their hard-earned money was lost, and the nearshore tidal flats suffered too. "After these setbacks, people gradually realized that living off the sea means thinking not only about 'taking' but also about how to 'nourish' it," Gu said.

Once the villagers figured out the logic, the path became clear. The village set rules for sea management and protection, assigned dedicated personnel to patrol the sea every day and put an end to disorderly farming and fishing. At the same time, more than 1,000 mu of saline-alkali land was converted to grow pumpkins and soybeans, easing the burden on the sea and allowing it to recover. They follow a model of "farming one-third and resting two-thirds," refraining from making money at the expense of future generations.

When efforts are made to truly protect the sea, the sea will give back. Using scientific and standardized aquaculture methods, farmers can harvest 4,000 kilograms of seafood per tide, with market prices stable at 30 to 36 yuan ($4-$5) per kilogram. Returns are stable, and risks are low. The days of losing money as a result of working blindly are gone.

Today, the village's development is no longer limited to tidal flat aquaculture. Leveraging the coastal advantage of Tongzhou Bay, the village works with nearby enterprises and industrial parks to help young people and people in need find jobs close to home. Villagers have shifted from working the tides to port-related manufacturing, and the output value of a single piece of major marine engineering equipment now equals the harvest of several thousand mu of tidal flats in the past. By combining ecological conservation with development, the village has preserved its blue seas and clear skies while putting more money in villagers' wallets.

"People and the sea need to live in harmony. That's the only way to build a sustainable future," Gu said.

"From reclaiming tidal flats for survival to ecological aquaculture, and then advancing into the deep sea to develop high-end industries, we have seen pressure on nearshore ecosystems continue to ease, while the value of marine resources continues to be unlocked," Shi said. "This shows that protecting the ocean is not a barrier to development, but a long-term guarantee for the sustainable growth of the marine economy."

Today, China's marine fisheries, shipbuilding and marine engineering equipment, and offshore wind power industries are among the world's largest. The 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is a crucial stage in China's transition from a major maritime nation to a strong maritime nation. "This vast expanse of blue territory feeds millions of households and provides a stage for both domestic and international circulations. It holds enormous potential for high-quality development," Shi said.