China's first ocean development index released in Qingdao

China's marine sector is in the midst of a wave of development, with its growth rate surpassing national economy development, according to a report released in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Wednesday.

The report, named "Xinhua ocean development index report", was issued by the Xinhua (Qingdao) International Ocean Information Center and Index Institute of National Financial Information Center at the 2013 China Qingdao International Blue Economy Summit Forum.

The Xinhua (Qingdao) International Ocean Information Center was jointly established by Xinhua News Agency, the Shandong provincial government and Qingdao government. Its aim is to build a high-end platform to issue relevant data and offer consulting services for the marine economy.

From 2006 to 2011, the index, the first of its kind in China, increased with an average annual growth of 23.18 percent, much higher than the average GDP growth during the same period, which equaled 10.52 percent.

The index is used to measure the overall situation of China's marine industry. All of the data in the index comes from authoritative organizations such as State Ocean Administration, Development Research Center of the State Council and Ocean University of China.

"As China is building itself into a maritime power, it is necessary to build an evaluative system for the marine industry from a strategic height and international views to observe the industry's development and provide support for all aspects of the economy and society, which promotes the birth of the Xinhua ocean development index," Zhou Wenlong, vice-president of Index Institute of National Financial Information Center, said at the two-day forum.

The report also revealed that five marine economic pilot zones in China, including Shandong, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Fujian and Tianjin, have enhanced the industrial strategic structure, maintained the oceanic rights and released sustainable development of China's marine cause.

However, the industrial structure and management systems should be improved, and uncoordinated problems between scientific input and output are still need to be solved, the report said.

As the first marine economy pilot zones, Shandong Peninsula Blue Economic Zone was included part of China's national development strategy in January 2011, suggesting that China's economy had expanded from land to the sea.

In 2012, the regional GDP in Shandong's "blue zone" reached 2.36 trillion yuan ($387 billion), a year-on-year increase of 10.7 percent, 0.9 percentage points higher than the province's average growth, taking up 47.3 percent of the provincial GDP.

"Shandong province will deepen opening-up in marine sectors, optimize its structure, improve its education and strengthen its ecological civilization, aiming to be a leader in reforming and developing the demonstrative zone of the marine industry … and becoming a new growth engine in China's eastern coastal area," said Sun Wei, vice-governor of Shandong province and member of the Standing Committee of the Shandong CPC Provincial Committee.

Qingdao, as the host of the forum focusing on the marine economy for the third time, is a leading city in Shandong's Peninsula Blue Economic Zone. The added value of the marine industry has achieved more than 10 percent annual growth since the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010) in this Shandong eastern coastal city.

According to official statistics, Qingdao's total output value of marine sectors during the first six months of this year amounted to 59.07 billion yuan, an increase of 15.5 percent year-on-year. The city's marine industry contributed 29 percent to the GDP growth in the same period.