China issues plan for maritime development

BEIJING - China's State Oceanic Administration on Wednesday issued a plan for maritime development, saying that the area of maritime reserves should account for 5 percent of the country's total sea area by 2020.

Named the National Marine Functional Zoning (2011-2020), the plan classifies China's sea area under eight functions, including mariculture and fishery, ports, industrial and urbanization, natural resources, maritime preservation, special usage and reservation areas.

The areas for sea farming will cover over 2.6 million hectares by 2020, the environment of over 2,000 km of coastline will be restored, and over 35 percent of the coastline area will be maintained in a natural state, according to the plan.

China is rich in maritime resources, which play an important role in the development of the country's coastal area, the plan said, noting that over 1.94 million hectares of sea area had been approved by the government at various levels for development activities by the end of 2010.