SHENZHEN’S maritime economy maintained strong growth momentum in recent years, with its gross maritime product exceeding 300 billion yuan (US$41.85 billion) last year.

Shenzhen Special Zone Daily yesterday quoted official data as saying that in 2022, Shenzhen’s gross maritime product reached 312.80 billion yuan, increasing 3.9% year on year and accounting for 9.70% of the city’s gross domestic product.

The number of maritime-related firms has increased to nearly 30,000, including industry giants such as China International Marine Containers (Group) Co. (CIMC), China Merchants Heavy Industry (Shenzhen) Co., CNOOC (Shenzhen) Co. and Shenzhen Port Group.

The city has initially formed a vertically integrated high-end ocean equipment industry chain covering research and development, assembly, construction and application, according to the report.

Since being designated as a “global ocean center city” in 2017, Shenzhen has significantly accelerated its exploration of the ocean, established comprehensive planning and implementation systems and achieved considerable growth in the maritime economy.

The Blue Whale series ultra-deepwater drilling platforms, independently designed and constructed by CIMC, served as the core drilling equipment that contributed to the success of China’s first and second rounds of methane hydrate exploration.

The Yiulian dockyard at Mazhou Island, a subsidiary of China Merchants Heavy Industry (Shenzhen), has become one of the largest ship and offshore engineering construction bases in China.

Currently, Shenzhen’s maritime industries have continued to develop and expand, with the city’s annual container throughput topping 30 million twenty-foot equivalent units and the annual oil and gas production in the eastern South China Sea surpassing 20 million cubic meters of oil equivalent.

Shenzhen’s offshore fishing fleet is expected to reach over 500 ships, accounting for 95% of Guangdong Province’s total offshore fishing fleet and ranking first in the country.

The sustainable development of Shenzhen’s maritime economy also relies on education and the city plans to set up the Shenzhen Ocean University.

Construction for the new university started just last month and the campus will cover an area of over 660,000 square meters, with a construction area of about 590,000 square meters and a total investment of about 6 billion yuan. (Yang Yunfei)