A crucial symposium was recently held to address this transition

China Prioritizes 'Green' Shift in Marine Economy Development

CHINA
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 00:10 (GMT + 9)

Experts Call for Ecological Integration and 'Blue Carbon' Focus to Ensure Harmony Between Humanity and the Sea

China, a major maritime power, is accelerating its shift towards a sustainable and "green" marine economy. This strategic direction is explicitly mandated by the "Suggestions of the CPC Central Committee on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development," which calls for promoting the high-quality development of the marine economy.

A crucial symposium was recently held to address this transition. Hosted by the Research Center for Environment and Economic Policy of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), the event, titled "Exploring a High-Quality Development Path for a Harmonious Relationship Between Humanity and the Sea in the Marine Economy," took place in Yantai, Shandong Province. Experts and scholars gathered to discuss key strategies, development paths, and support mechanisms.

Yu Hai, deputy director of the MEE's Research Center for Environment and Economic Policy, emphasized the need to integrate the concept of "ecological priority and green development" across all marine development, utilization, and protection efforts. He stressed the importance of balancing development with protection, simultaneously tackling pollution prevention and ecological restoration, and scientifically maintaining the ocean's natural reproductive capacity. Furthermore, he highlighted the necessity of enhancing the green and high-quality productivity of the ocean and driving the green and low-carbon transformation of marine industries through technological innovation.

The ocean's role as the Earth system's largest carbon sink, with its high sequestration capacity and long storage time, was a central concern. Many participants focused on how to increase marine carbon sequestration to contribute to carbon neutrality. Yu Hai pointed out that efforts must be made to enhance the ocean's natural carbon sequestration capacity, explore marine carbon enhancement technologies, and vigorously develop the "blue carbon" economy.

Specifically addressing fisheries, Fang Jinghui, a researcher at the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, advocated for the vigorous development of "carbon sink fisheries." These are fishery production activities that use biological carbon sink functions to directly or indirectly reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. He recommended promoting ecological aquaculture models, such as multitrophic level integrated aquaculture, to systematically boost the overall carbon sink capacity of marine aquaculture systems.

Other experts noted that research suggests increasing ocean alkalinity can accelerate the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, showing broad application prospects for carbon neutrality efforts.

On the financial front, Ren Yujie, director of the Green Finance Research Center at the International Institute of Green Finance, Central University of Finance and Economics, noted that green finance offers significant opportunities to support sustainable marine development. This includes expanding the development space of marine new energy industries, enhancing the global competitiveness of the green shipbuilding industry, and promoting new scenarios like sustainable fisheries. He suggested using future financial support to foster the coordinated development of "marine industry + marine ecology," which would systematically improve the financing availability and sustainable development capabilities of marine ecological protection projects.

Story based on a Gao Jing reporter from Xinhua News Agency

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