China's coastal regions lay emphasis on marine economy
China DailyAerial view of Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center. BEIJING - China's coastal regions have laid great emphasis on the marine economy, as it has become a new driving force of economic development. A total of 11 Chinese coastal provincial-level regions have included the development of marine economy in their local 14th five-year plans as an important strategy to strengthen their local economy, noted the Decoding Report of China's Marine Economy 2021 released by the China Economic Information Service on World Oceans Day, which falls on June 8. The total output value of the marine economy in China increased from 6.97 trillion yuan in 2016 to 8.94 trillion yuan in 2019, accounting for 9 percent of China's total GDP in the year. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak and complex international environment, China's marine economy dropped 5.3 percent year-on-year to about 8 trillion yuan in 2020.