Qingdao has secured the 16th position among 60 maritime cities across the globe and topped the world in the number of ocean-related papers published, in accordance with the newly-unveiled Global Ocean City Competitiveness Index Report (2025).

As indicated in the report, global maritime cities are split into four distinct tiers in terms of competitiveness. Shenzhen, Houston, Copenhagen, Guangzhou, Vancouver, Qingdao, Stockholm, Los Angeles, Taipei and Athens are included among the second tier thanks to their prominent edges in scientific and technological innovation, and economic and trade vitality.

As written in the report, against the backdrop of China pushing for the building of a maritime power, three maritime economic circles, namely, the northern maritime economic circle, the eastern maritime economic circle and the southern maritime economic circle, have emerged in China, which are spearheaded by Qingdao, Shanghai and Shenzhen, respectively.

To be specific, Qingdao excels in terms of ocean-related papers and academicians. According to the 2024 ranking of ocean-related research papers for 60 maritime cities by Web of Science, Qingdao topped the list by a landslide with 2,202 papers, accounting for nearly one tenth of the total number of papers contributed by the 60 cities. Qingdao boasts around one third of academicians engaging in maritime research in the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, securing the first place in China.  (Li Xunxiang)