Because Shandong has been chosen by the State Council as a pilot zone for modern marine industry, Yantai, a coastal city in the province, has unveiled an ambitious development plan to speed up the completion of a marine economy system.
A total of ten marine industries will be prioritized, including fishery, aquatic products processing, equipment manufacturing, oceanic energy generation, mining, marine tourism, transportation, and logistics and seawater utilization.
"We are committed to building Yantai into the most influential marine economic zone at home and abroad within five to ten years," said Zhang Jiangting, the mayor of Yantai.
The marine sector in the city is expected to see a total output value of 220 billion yuan ($33.8 billion) by 2015, an average annual growth of 15 percent, accounting for more than 31 percent of the city’s GDP, Zhang stressed.
Currently, an international marine equipment manufacturing base is under construction, designed to produce high-end yachts, ocean-going vessels, chemical tankers, container ships, and other engineering equipments. It will make an annual output value of marine equipments of 1 million tons and ships of 5.5 million DWT, representing a sale revenue of 100 billion yuan ($15.4 billion) by 2015.
To promote modern fisheries, the city will build a batch of eco-friendly seafood breeding demonstration bases, processing centers and trading centers. By 2015, Yantai’s fisheries are projected to make revenues of up to 80 billion yuan ($12.3 billion), processing marine products of 1.8 million tons.
Yantai will provide a large number of high-tech research institutions will be established to provide technical assistance for its marine sectors, including 12 national and provincial marine scientific research centers, universities, engineering laboratories, as well as enterprise R&D facilities.
Great efforts will be made to develop near-port manufacturing centers which focus on sectors of environmentally friendly chemical engineering, automobile and parts, as well as high-end metallurgical industry. By 2015, the city is expected to have 500 auto and parts businesses producing 800,000 vehicles and 110 billion yuan ($16.9 billion) in revenue.
In terms of new energy, two large-scale wind power projects have been approved and are under construction in Changdao and Laizhou, with an installed capacity of 1 million kilowatts each. The city’s new energy sector is expected to have a total load capacity of 5.6 million kw, bringing in 150 billion yuan ($23.1 billion) in revenue in five years.
With seven ports along its coastline and a train ferry crossing the Bohai Sea (which links China, Japan and South Korea), the city is planned to become a transport hub in a potential free trade zone in Northeast Asia. In five years its ports are expected to have a handling capacity of 260 million tons and a throughput of 3 million containers.
By Wang Qian (China Daily Shandong Bureau)