The ocean economy's strength has been steadily rising in recent years, with industrial competitiveness continuing to improve. At present, China has developed an ocean economy market exceeding 10 trillion yuan, and its scale keeps growing. The ocean economy not only acts as the blue engine behind national economic growth but also serves as a strategic tool for building a robust domestic market and promoting open cooperation. Advancing the high-quality development of the ocean economy is of great significance for accelerating the construction of a maritime powerhouse.
China's ocean economy has already formed a substantial market, with its proportion of the national gross domestic product (GDP) surpassing the global average. Globally, the ocean economy accounts for roughly 1% to 20% of national GDP, while in 2025, China's ocean gross product exceeded 11 trillion yuan, representing 7.9% of the GDP, notably higher than the global average of 3.5% in 2024. Traditional marine industries have achieved stable and relatively fast growth, while emerging sectors continue to improve in quality and efficiency. The ocean economy has become a major market for innovative development.
China has maintained its position as the largest global maritime engineering market for eight consecutive years, holding more than 50% of the market share. Shandong, a leading province in marine science and technology innovation, maintained a marine science contribution rate of around 70% in 2024. With the widespread application of artificial intelligence in the ocean economy, a trillion-yuan intelligent marine economy market is expected to emerge.
The ocean economy has also become a major market for industrial transformation. High-end, intelligent, and green development in the marine sector has steadily advanced. In 2025, the added value of the marine biomedicine industry reached 99.6 billion yuan, with a product chain covering innovative marine drugs, health foods, biological materials, and biological products. The offshore wind power sector has achieved remarkable progress, with cumulative installed capacity exceeding 47 million kilowatts by 2025, ranking first globally in both annual additions and total capacity. Domestic enterprises have made significant innovations in large-capacity units, key components, floating technology, high-capacity dynamic cables, low-frequency transmission, and integrated development.
Where to Begin
First, the ocean economy will support sustained growth in household consumption. Domestic tourism demand continues to upgrade, with notable progress in marine cultural tourism integration and improved quality in the marine tourism sector. In 2025, the added value of China's marine tourism industry reached 1.6273 trillion yuan, growing 5.9% year-on-year, making it a key component of resident travel spending. As demographic and consumption structures evolve, marine-related consumption vitality will be further stimulated, driving continued expansion in marine tourism. Cruise tourism, in particular, holds significant potential. International cruise passenger volume in China reached 1.3 million in 2025, making it Asia's fastest-growing cruise market. By 2030, cruise passenger numbers are projected to reach about 4.5 million, with direct economic contributions exceeding 75 billion yuan.
Second, the ocean economy will support the ongoing upgrade of consumer spending patterns. China has become a global leader in seafood production and consumption, with marine aquatic product output ranking first worldwide for many years. In 2025, national marine aquatic production reached 38.74 million tons, serving as a true blue granary that enriches the food supply system for over 1.4 billion people. However, the seafood supply faces three key challenges: a low processing rate compared to developed economies; a low proportion of deeply processed products, with most high-quality aquatic goods entering the market as primary products, limiting added value in categories like surimi products, prepared aquatic dishes, and marine functional foods; and a low industry concentration, with only 29% of aquatic processing enterprises operating above standard scale in 2024, leaving a fragmented market structure. Shifting from primary to deep processing represents a major task for expanding the ocean economy's total output and enhancing its quality. This requires upgrading deep-processing facilities, increasing financial services support for far-sea aquaculture bases and modern processing projects, leveraging leading enterprises to accelerate commercial applications of scientific results, and establishing deep-processing quality standards aligned with international norms.
Third, the ocean economy will drive improvements in marine manufacturing. While China's marine manufacturing sector boasts clear competitive advantages, it still faces shortcomings such as reliance on imported core technologies and insufficient supply of high-end equipment. For instance, dependence on foreign sources for advanced marine detection instruments, core functional components, and special-purpose materials remains above 65%. Notable gaps persist with developed economies in frontier fields like deep-sea mineral exploration and high-end marine equipment manufacturing. The key to upgrading marine manufacturing lies in filling gaps in the marine producer services sector. The added value of marine scientific research and education as a share of marine services remains far below the proportion of producer services in the overall services sector. Future efforts should focus on expanding marine producer services to accelerate integrated development with marine manufacturing.
Building an Open and Cooperative Ocean Economy Market
First, China's continuously growing ocean economy market offers significant opportunities for global marine economic development. Urban and rural demand for quality aquatic products is rising, while suitable aquaculture waters are increasingly scarce. By 2030, consumption demand for seafood and aquatic products is projected to surge. As nearshore aquaculture faces growing environmental constraints, this will drive a rapid rise in aquatic product imports, providing a broad market for global seafood exporters.
Second, constructing a joint blue economy market between China and ASEAN shows considerable promise. The potential for market integration is large: in 2024, seafood imports from ASEAN accounted for only about 18% of China's total seafood imports, leaving room for growth, while China's direct investment in ASEAN's first-industry sector, including fisheries, made up just 0.5% of total investment in the region. Complementarity is strong, as ASEAN's seafood exports to China are primarily primary products, with a low share of processed goods. Moving from trade-focused ties to integrated industry and supply chains is a key task for building a shared marine fishery market. The potential is substantial: a 1 percentage point increase in the share of China-ASEAN seafood trade in bilateral trade would generate trade growth of around 10 billion US dollars.
Third, accelerating the alignment of rules and standards for the blue economy between China and ASEAN is essential. Through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), China already applies zero tariffs to 100% of ASEAN seafood imports, while ASEAN countries, with few exceptions, implement zero-tariff policies on about 99% of Chinese seafood exports. Next steps include exploring expanded opening and cooperation in marine resource development under the RCEP framework and engaging in marine-related economic and technical collaboration. Advancing alignment in marine service rules and standards involves coordinating cruise tourism supervision, entry-exit regulations, and safety standards to foster a joint China-ASEAN marine tourism market; establishing cooperative platforms for commercializing marine biomedicine achievements, creating a China R&D/manufacturing plus ASEAN application chain; and building port alliances to enable mutual recognition of customs inspection standards and port information sharing. Additionally, expanding the autonomous opening process of China's ocean economy market involves supporting domestic and ASEAN enterprises in developing cruise routes and products aimed at domestic consumers, proactively increasing ASEAN seafood imports with green channel customs for those meeting clear standards, and strengthening exports of aquaculture technical services. By leveraging Chinese capital and technology, cooperative efforts can focus on creating marine ranches and jointly building industry and supply chains for the ocean economy.
Shandong Province ranks second in China's marine economy, with its marine gross product surpassing 1.9 trillion yuan in 2025, accounting for 17.2% of the national total. Hainan Province possesses the richest marine resources, with its marine gross product reaching 290.73 billion yuan in 2025, representing 2.64% of the national figure. Together, Shandong's goal of building a highland for modern marine economic development and Hainan's free trade port policies will enable these provinces to play major roles in advancing a regional shared market for the ocean economy.