China's marine economy showed a strong development momentum in 2024, with its gross ocean product (GOP) exceeding 10 trillion RMB (about 1.4 trillion USD) for the first time, contributing 0.4 percentage points to national economic growth, according to data in a report released on February 24 by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The rapid development of the marine economy has benefited from many aspects. On the one hand, the country attaches importance to the marine economy, providing a good policy environment for the development of the marine industry; while on the other hand, technological innovation and industrial upgrading provide support for the high-quality development of the marine economy.

Marine manufacturing accounts for over 30 percent of the total GOP, said the report. The Manila Times commented: "A key takeaway from the report is the crucial role played by China's marine manufacturing sector in the economy."

China's first homegrown ultra-large drill ship, the Meng Xiang (Dream), was commissioned in November 2024 and is a major leap in the nation's deep-sea exploration and mining endeavors. China's first xuanji system smart production Line, which integrates rotary steerable drilling and logging-while-drilling technologies, marks a breakthrough in the country's high-end oil and gas drilling technology.

Data released by the General Administration of Customs showed that China exported 5,804 ships in 2024, up 25.1 percent year on year; and the total amount of ship exports reached 308.65 billion RMB, up 58.7 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, emerging marine industries have continued to expand and strengthen, with the added value up 7.2 percent year on year.

Committed to protecting the marine environment, China integrates green and low-carbon concepts into the development of its marine economy. Besides modern ocean ranches, greener and intelligent ports, shipping, and shipbuilding, booming renewable marine energy is another highlight in the development of the marine economy.

This is evidenced by the megawatt-class Fenjin marine current turbine, that generates green power fed into the State Grid; Nankun, China's first independently developed deep-sea megawatt-class wave power generation platform, provides clean electricity to remote islands; and the Penghu deep-sea fish rearing platform that can meet its own electricity needs using clean energy from wave and solar energy converters and energy storage devices.

Additionally, the establishment of the marine microbiome database, with over 43,100 marine microbial genomes and 2.458 billion gene sequences, laid a solid foundation for the implementation of the Blue Medicine Library development plan.

The rapid growth of the marine economy not only provides new impetus for the sustained development of the national economy, but also contributes China's strength to the development of the global marine economy.

"The Chinese [ship builder] owners have invested a lot in the last three years in building new ships, which means they are driving this kind of market. So in the coming years, we are going to see the peripheral economies to shipping being developed," said Nikos Markakis, general manager of Jotun COSCO Marine Coatings (Qingdao) Co., Ltd.

According to Markakis, China's economy has opened up significantly and there are very good opportunities for multinationals to play a significant role in the development of the country.

Last year, China's offshore wind power entered a new phase of scaled development, as annual power generation grew by nearly 30 percent year on year, said the report, accelerating the country's transition to a greener economy.

Kurt Van Rysselberge, head of Bekaert China & VP Operations Global Engineering and Operational Excellence, said they are very much committed to offshore wind power. "In line with China's central government policy and also [those] implemented by the local governments, we see huge potential for our product offering," he said.

"Norway and China are [both] ocean countries, [and] there are lots of things that bring us together when it comes to the marine field, such as marine technology, transition to green economy and offshore wind," said Norwegian Ambassador to China Signe Brudeset who took part in the China Marine Economy Expo.