In the vast collective realm of mari-time utilization， exploration and ecol-ogy， the 21st Century is considered bysome to be the \"Century of the Ocean.\"The oceans sustain us， and， if properly man-aged and cared for， will enable sustainabledevelopment. Thus， oceanic conditions areof paramount concern to governments andpeoples around the world.

Besides a vast land territory， China alsoboasts an expansive maritime area. Thenation's coastline stretches for 18.000 kilo-meters， and within her waters are more than7.300 islands which exceed 500 square me-ters in dry-ground expanse， China governsabout 3 million square kilometers of mari-time area， of which 380.000 square kilome-ters are territorial sea and inland waters.

The ocean waters are territory， importantresoarces and strategic passages. The intel-ligent exploration oF oceans leads to socialprogress and employment. Growth in themaritime economy can result in revolution-ary changes to coastal areas， offering oppor-tunities for greater societal development.

In recent years， many coastal provincesand cities have set their sights on maritimeexploration. For instance. Shandong Prov-ince has established a goal to create \"Mari-time Shandong:\" Fujian Province has for-mulated a strategy based on developing theEconomic Zone West of the Taiwan Straits:Liaoning Province has worked out a strat-egy to develop its coastal belt: Tianjin Mu-nicipality has drafted a plan to better utilizeits coastal area; Hebei Province has workedout a blueprint for the coostruction of theCaofeidian Industrial Park; Jiangsu Prov-ince has included coastal exploration intoits economic development strategy; and theGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region hasestablished the Around-Beibu Gulf Eco-nomic Cooperation Forum.