Qingdao WCNA in East China's Shandong reports strong growth in its marine economy. [Photo/WeChat account: qdxihaianfabu]

Qingdao West Coast New Area (Qingdao WCNA) in East China's Shandong reported strong growth in its marine economy last year, with a preliminary calculation showing a growth rate of 6.9 percent year-on-year. The proportions of the primary, secondary, and tertiary marine industries are 2.7:44.3:53, and the marine GDP was the highest in the city.

Since its establishment in 2013, the marine GDP of the Qingdao WCNA has increased from 49.4 billion yuan ($6.83 billion) to nearly 200 billion yuan in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 14.9 percent. The marine GDP accounts for about 40 percent of Qingdao's marine GDP, highlighting its pivotal position in the city's strategy to become a maritime power.

Significant progress has been made in the construction of a world-class port, and the area has also accelerated its development of the ship and marine engineering industry.

Qingdao WCNA's marine industry includes 25 industry categories. In recent years, development of six major marine industries, including ship and marine engineering, shipping trade and finance, marine biomedicine, marine cold chain, port-side processing, and marine technology services, has been accelerated, empowering high-quality development of the marine economy with new quality productive forces and constructing a modern and competitive marine industrial system.

In 2023, Qingdao WCNA made progress on 60 marine projects with a total investment of 100 billion yuan, including the commencement of 10 new projects and the completion of 15 projects.

This year, it plans to focus on approximately 66 marine key projects with a total investment of around 100 billion yuan, with 37 projects included in the city-level list of key marine construction projects, ranking at the forefront in terms of total planned investment and annual planned investment.

As a national-level new area with a focus on the development of the marine economy, Qingdao WCNA consistently places a premium on innovation, seeking to become a center for marine scientific and technological innovation.