Creating new edge

Building on the Maritime Silk Road and the 15th Five-Year Plan, China can strengthen its marine industries for a more solid foundation

The ocean serves as a key strategic frontier for high-quality development, as well as a core platform for China to expand its opening-up. The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) provides a clear pathway for pursuing maritime strength in the new era, prioritizing the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and the high-quality growth of the marine economy.

The outline sets objectives: promoting coordinated land-sea development planning; strengthening, optimizing and expanding marine industry; and promoting the building of a maritime community with a shared future. On the basis of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), which focused on consolidating foundations and achieving scale expansion, China's marine economy has now entered a new stage marked by structural optimization and accelerated opening-up.

In 2025, according to data released by the Ministry of Natural Resources, China's marine economy recorded steady growth, with its gross ocean product surpassing 11 trillion yuan ($1.63 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 5.5 percent. Its share of GDP rose to 7.9 percent, making it a key pillar supporting the stable growth of the national economy.

On the one hand, China's marine industries became more competitive. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's shipbuilding sector maintained its global lead for the 16th consecutive year in 2025, accounting for over 50 percent of the global market, and offshore wind power and other emerging sectors are picking up speed.

On the other hand, opening-up and cooperation in the marine sector expanded further. It is estimated that the Maritime Silk Road handled more than 5.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units in 2025 alone, up 9.11 percent year-on-year and connecting 150 ports across 48 countries and regions.

To date, China has engaged in targeted collaboration with Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and beyond. Win-win outcomes have been achieved in projects such as the China-Malaysia cold chain shipping route and the Red Sea project in Saudi Arabia. These initiatives have not only solidified the foundation for China's domestic economic growth but also provided replicable and scalable experience for international maritime cooperation.

Nevertheless, the sector's transformation still faces challenges such as industrial homogenization, blocked flows of institutions and factors and intensifying global competition. Accordingly, China needs to pursue industrial synergy, institutional innovation and opening-up cooperation to transform itself from a large maritime country into a maritime powerhouse, shifting its marine economy from scale to quality, and from domestic circulation to deeper integration between domestic and international markets.

First, China can strengthen the synergy among marine industries and consolidate the foundation for high-quality development.

Coordination mechanisms can be gradually established for the three major marine economic circles in northern, eastern and southern China with clearly defined and differentiated roles. China should also leverage marine economy demonstration zones to promote integration such as "wind power+ranching" and "port+data". For example, Guangdong's "Fuxi No 1" wind power-fishery integrated project can produce around 900 metric tons of high-quality fish annually, delivering integrated industrial growth and optimal resource utilization.

International cooperation can also be deepened. The BRI and BRICS cooperation mechanisms can be used to advance cooperation in port operations, marine equipment and fishery farming. That would help Chinese enterprises participate in the construction of key ports in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa to build a global Maritime Silk Road network, facilitate the export of ships and offshore wind power equipment as well as technical standards, advance China's deep-sea aquaculture technologies, and build marine ranches jointly with some Southeast Asian countries.

Furthermore, emerging industries can be expanded. Aligning with the priorities of the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan, China can accelerate marine biomedicine, seawater desalination and other industries, support Qingdao, Xiamen and other cities in building marine science and innovation centers to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies in deep-sea exploration and desalination, promote the integration of offshore wind power and deep-sea aquaculture by building demonstration projects that combine "blue granary and green energy" and cultivate the marine digital economy by developing shipping big data and crossborder e-commerce overseas warehouses to open up new growth avenues.

Second, China can advance marine-related institutional innovation to facilitate the cross-border flow of production factors. On the one hand, it should innovate opening-up mechanisms and optimize the business environment. For instance, promoting the "single window" customs clearance model among ports along the Maritime Silk Road could help reduce cross-border trade costs.

Moreover, authorities should explore reforms to facilitate the cross-border flow of marine resources, such as piloting a negative list for the outbound transfer of marine data in areas including the Hainan Free Trade Port and the Lin-gang Special Area in Shanghai, thereby simplifying approval processes for cross-border marine shipping data. On the other hand, the marine economic accounting system can be improved by incorporating blue carbon, the marine digital economy and other emerging sectors into the calculation framework, thereby more accurately reflecting development outcomes.

Third, China can deepen international cooperation in the marine sector. In the energy realm, greater connectivity can be pursued by promoting the integration of deep-sea oil and gas exploration with offshore wind, wave energy and other renewables, as well as by jointly building maritime energy corridors with partners in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Russia. Moreover, supporting Chinese enterprises in global marine energy development would help enhance China's voice in international markets and safeguard national energy security.

On the environmental front, strengthening cooperation on ecological protection is equally important. This calls for joint efforts with partner countries on marine pollution control, coral reef protection and coastal restoration.

A thriving marine economy strengthens a nation; a strong marine economy empowers a nation. The 15th Five-Year Plan period is critical for China to build itself into a maritime power and develop new strengths in the marine economy.

Building on the momentum of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and closely following the strategic priorities of the 15th Five-Year Plan, China can strengthen its marine industries for a more solid foundation, advance institutional innovation for higher efficiency, and expand global cooperation for broader opportunities.

By better integrating domestic and international markets, China will achieve higher-quality development of its marine economy, injecting ocean-driven momentum into the nation's drive to build a modern socialist country, while contributing Chinese wisdom and strength to the building of a maritime community with a shared future.

The author is a distinguished professor at the Southeast China Maritime Governance Laboratory at Xiamen University and the leading scientist at the Fujian Ocean Innovation Center.

The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.