Shandong weaves e-commerce into ocean economy

Oysters, seashells and seaweed grow under planned sea area in Rongcheng city, Shandong province, Aug 16, 2015. [Dai Tian/chinadaily.com.cn]

By tapping into seafood e-commerce, the platform widens its scope into 71 percent more of the world's products.

"Barn on the sea"

The seafood e-commerce campaign came as Shandong province vowed to produce 10 million tons of marine products by 2020, with protein contents equal to 20 billion kilograms of grain.

The provincial government first put forward such a plan, with the ambition of "developing into China's barn on the sea" on January 5. To achieve the target, the yield of sea products will have to reach 100 kilograms per capita.

Rongcheng alone, located at the east end of Shandong peninsula with nearly 500 kilometers of coastline, produces 44 percent of the country's kelp, 16 percent of its sea cucumber and 9 percent of its abalone.

The city is home to 1,129 marine companies, whose combined revenue has reached 100 billion yuan, said Wang Hongxiao, vice-mayor of Rongcheng, at a press conference on Saturday.

According to the plan, Shandong province aims to support 100 leading fishery and processing companies and achieve an added value of 200 billion yuan by 2020.