The release of the "Overall Development Planning of the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone" and "Overall Planning of the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone" documents has ushered in a period of marine economic development in Pingtan, Fujian province.

According to the administrative committee of the island county, the zone will develop in fields including offshore wind power, sea water desalinization and coastal tourism.

Pingtan, surrounded by sea on four sides, is made up of 126 islands with a total area of 393 square kilometers. Haitan Island, its main island, is the largest island in Fujian and the fifth largest in China.

Pingtan is the nearest region to Taiwan on the mainland, only 68 nautical miles away from Hsinchu, Taiwan. Pingtan has a coastline spanning 408 kilometers and abundant resources of fish, minerals, ocean energy and ocean chemicals.

The county is also rich in wind resources with annual utilization of more than 3,500 hours. So far, four offshore wind farms have been planned for construction, including the Dalian and Haiyu wind farms that are part of provincial planning lists for offshore wind power construction.

The Dalian wind farm will produce around 700 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year once completed. It has a planned investment of 4 billion yuan ($630.8 million).

Edited by Lin Hong, Zhao Lu and Michael Thai