Shandong provincial government pledges to spend 1.4 trillion yuan on eight modern marine industries by 2020 to promote the regional marine economy.

The industries include the marine-based organism industry, equipment manufacturing, resources and mineral exploration, fishing, transporta­tion, tourism, engineering and environ­mental protection.

Priority is given to industrial zones, such as Longkou Marine Equipment Manufacturing Zone, Binzhou Marine Chemicals Zone, Dongjiakou Marine Hi-tech Industrial Zone, and the Dongying Cluster of Petroleum Industries.

The province's marine industry has seen a rapid and robust growth since the Shandong peninsula marine economic zone was listed as a part of the nation's development strategy in January 2011.

In the first half of this year, the zone realized a total output value of 1.04 trillion yuan ($164 billion), an increase of 11.7 percent year on year.

Shandong has a coastline stretching more than 3,000 kilometers, or one-sixth of the nation's total, and more than 200 harbors that are home to a rich variety of marine life.

The Shandong provincial government is striving to foster 10 marine equipment manufacturers, each with an annual production value of over 10 billion yuan, and 30 companies in emerging or high-end marine industries, each with an annual production value of 1 billion yuan.

In addition, around 150 major projects and 40 marine industrial parks are under construction.

By Wang Qian (China Daily Shandong Bureau)

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Clark Cahill