Defining and quantifying China's ocean economy

Rui Zhao; Stephen Hynes; Guang Shun He

doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2013.05.008

Defining and quantifying China's ocean economy

Mar Policy. 2014 Jan:43:164-173. doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2013.05.008. Epub 2013 Jun 21.

Authors

Rui Zhao^{1

2}, Stephen Hynes³, Guang Shun He¹

Affiliations

¹ National Marine Data and Information Service, Tianjin, China.
² Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China.
³ Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit, J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.

Abstract

In recent years, the Chinese government has been increasingly supportive of the development of the ocean economy, implementing several national ocean-related strategies. For the first time, China's 12th five-year Plan for National and Social Development (2011-2015) includes "developing the ocean economy" as a key national development strategy for the country. Because of this, the demand for ocean economic statistics and indicators is growing rapidly. The aim of this paper is to define and quantify the value of the major ocean industries in China and to examine the growth in the major Chinese ocean industries in the period 2001 to 2010. The paper also outlines a methodology that provides a robust quantification of the marine sector over time. It finds that in 2010 the major ocean industries in China contributed $239.09 billion to the national economy and employed over 9 million individuals.

Keywords: Chinese ocean economy; Chinese ocean economy accounting system; Marine industries.