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The dock of the shipbuilding base in Shidao Administrative District, Rongcheng City, Shandong Province, is a scene of busy production. Photo by Li Xinjun (People's Vision)

The tide rises in the east, singing toward the sea - a close look at the "report card" of the marine economy in the first half of this year will reveal that it has become a highlight of China's economic development.

The total marine output value was 4.9 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%; of the 18 major ship types in the world, China ranked first in the world in new orders for 14 types; the manufacturing of marine engineering equipment has accelerated, with the amount of new orders in the first half of the year three times that of the same period last year; China's total maritime imports and exports increased by 2.1% year-on-year, and the "blue circle of friends" is expanding... As the effects of the country's macroeconomic policies continue to be released and external demand picks up, China's marine economy continues its rapid development trend, and the "blue engine" is full of power.

Expanding the industrial system will make the family assets more solid

In the No. 3 dock of COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, sections of ship structures as high as three or four stories are lined up, and workers are busy working. "In the first half of the year, we have delivered 10 ships, including 63,600-ton bulk carriers, 154,000-ton shuttle tankers and 20,000-ton transshipment barges, and revenue increased by about 50% year-on-year," said Jiang Ping, head of the planning department of COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry in Zhoushan.

Shipbuilding is a traditional industry in China's marine economy. In the first half of the year, Chinese shipbuilding companies received good news: Jiangnan Shipyard, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard and Waigaoqiao Shipyard completed and delivered 38 ships and received orders for 65 ships, with mid-to-high-end ship types accounting for more than 90%; the 85,000-ton bulk carrier No. 3 "GOLDENWAVE" built by CSSC Tianjin was delivered 30 days ahead of the annual plan, and all inspection items were qualified at one time, achieving a 100% inspection success rate.

Looking at the world, China's shipbuilding industry continues to lead the world and has become the "golden signboard" of the world's shipbuilding industry. Data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology show that the three major indicators of China's shipbuilding industry continue to grow steadily, leading the world. In the first half of the year, China's shipbuilding completion volume was 25.02 million deadweight tons, an increase of 18.4% year-on-year; new orders were 54.22 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 43.9%. Among them, the new orders in terms of deadweight tons accounted for 74.7% of the global total.

Behind the "hard power" is the continuous improvement of China's shipbuilding research and design capabilities. In the first half of the year, China launched a number of new green and environmentally friendly ship types, including a 64,500-ton methanol dual-fuel bulk carrier and a hydrogen-powered Aframax tanker, and obtained the principle approval certificate from the International Classification Society. "These forward-looking ship types use methanol, ammonia and hydrogen as the main power, covering all ship types, laying a good foundation for my country's shipbuilding companies to receive orders in the future." Cui Xiaojian, deputy director of the National Marine Information Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources, said.

In addition to traditional marine industries, emerging industries are accelerating their pace towards innovation, greenness and intelligence. In the first half of the year, China's marine engineering equipment manufacturing industry recovered rapidly, as can be seen from the number of orders - Chinese shipbuilders received multiple super large orders, and the amount of new orders for marine engineering was three times that of the same period last year. The cylindrical floating production storage and offloading unit "Anemone No. 1" completed offshore installation, the large-scale offshore wind power multifunctional operation and maintenance mother ship "Fenghua 23" was officially delivered, and the world's first 18-megawatt offshore wind turbine independently developed by China was successfully hoisted...

Activate technological innovation and develop new “blue” productivity

The production line of Fengshi Technology's transparent factory in Chengyang District, Qingdao, Shandong Province is running in an orderly manner. Through the exploration of marine phospholipids at the molecular level and the renewal and improvement of purification methods, the production process and technical level of the company's krill oil products have been significantly improved, opening up a new path for the high-value utilization of Antarctic krill.

Li Yifei, chief technology officer of Fengshi (Qingdao) Marine Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that the company has cooperated with the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences and other units to form innovative consortia, such as the National Antarctic Krill Advanced R&D Quality and Testing Center, the Chronic Disease Medical Nutrition Research Center, etc., to promote the Antarctic krill industry to move towards the high end of the value chain through joint research and development.

From medical dressings and biological fertilizers developed based on seaweed, to independently developed ballast water treatment systems, to "blue medicine libraries" with marine characteristics, more and more companies are deeply transforming scientific research results, injecting new impetus into the development of the marine economy.

"We conducted online questionnaires and written surveys for some domestic marine-related enterprises. The results showed that 68.6% and 70.4% of the companies achieved year-on-year growth in R&D funding and number of personnel in the first half of the year, respectively. Among them, more than 80% of marine power companies achieved double growth in R&D funding and number of R&D personnel." Cui Xiaojian said.

Guided by scientific and technological innovation, China is promoting marine science and related industries to move towards high-end and deep sea. In the field of marine fisheries, the intelligent tuna fishing forecast system - Sea Eagle AI was released, and the fishery large model Fanli Large Model 1.0 was released; in the field of marine oil and gas, the offshore intelligent drilling and production platform Huizhou 26-6 was installed, and COSL's "offshore drilling platform key equipment intelligent monitoring system" was put into use; in the field of marine exploration, the Beidou water intelligent perception and early warning system was put into use, the digital and intelligent offshore exploration and testing platform "Central South Institute 520" was delivered, and the intelligent software bionic fish "Manta" was launched... The application scenarios of marine digital intelligence are constantly enriched, enabling the development of new marine productivity.

Blue sea and silver beach are also green mountains and clear waters, as well as gold and silver mountains. In Shandong, a cylindrical "black box" is thrown into the sea. Through sensors, the total phosphorus and total nitrogen data of seawater can be monitored to "prescribe the right prescription" for controlling the growth of algae and controlling marine pollution. This "black box" is a new achievement of the Institute of Marine Instruments and Meters of Shandong Academy of Sciences - an in-situ analyzer of total phosphorus and total nitrogen in seawater.

The white paper "China's Marine Ecological and Environmental Protection" recently released by the State Council Information Office said that China has always cared about, understood, and developed the ocean. On the premise of safeguarding the ecological security boundaries, it has comprehensively improved the efficiency of marine resource utilization, promoted the green development of the marine economy, and continuously met the people's multi-level and diversified needs for the ocean. Through high-level ecological and environmental protection, it has continuously created new momentum and new advantages for high-quality development.

Join hands with blue partners to strengthen the "open area" of marine economy

How long does it take for a Malaysian pineapple to go from customs to supermarket shelves? The answer from Tianjin Dongjiang Comprehensive Bonded Zone is: "About 1.5 hours." At the end of June, 60 tons of Malaysian pineapples were put on the shelves of local supermarkets, allowing Chinese consumers to taste the Southeast Asian fruit at its most mature state.

Tianjin Port is an important foreign trade port and international hub port in northern China, and currently has 147 container routes. "As one of the country's backbone cold chain logistics bases, the Dongjiang Comprehensive Bonded Zone relies on local port resources and location advantages to allow imported fruits to go directly from the port to supermarkets," said Xiao Jian, director of the International Trade Section of the Dongjiang Comprehensive Bonded Zone Commerce Bureau.

The route network is becoming increasingly dense, and friends in the circle have been giving thumbs up. China's maritime foreign trade is clearly on the rise, reflecting open wisdom and an open-minded attitude.

Liaoning Port Group opened the first ocean-going container route to western South America and the first foreign trade container route directly to India; Yantai Port opened the new "Yantai-Brazil" general cargo route to South America; Tianjin Port opened the first direct express route for South American cherries and the first ro-ro route to eastern South America in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region; Fuzhou Port Jiangyin Port opened a Southeast Asian route directly to Ho Chi Minh Port in Vietnam... As Sun Shuxian, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Director of the State Oceanic Administration, said: "China's marine industry has entered the best development period in history."

Hand in hand with blue partners, China's "blue circle of friends" is expanding. In the practice of building a community with a shared future for the ocean, China has signed cooperation agreements with more than 50 countries and international organizations, closely connected with major cooperation processes such as the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the United Nations "Ocean Decade", opened its arms to all countries, insisted on consultation, joint construction and sharing, and jointly sought a blue development future.

Going to the sea and riding the waves, China's marine economic test paper is always updated.

(People's Daily Overseas Edition)