The Ocean’s Bounty

Wang Zhe

Marine development remains the driving force of Shandong's economy.

With a coastline stretching more than 3，000 kilometers， Chinas eastern province of Shandong has abundant marine resources. Shandongs sea area is nearly 160，000 square kilometers – equivalent to the provinces land area – and the annual throughput of all ports combined exceeds 1.5 billion tons. Its therefore no surprise that the sea is a driving force in the economic development of Shandong.

On top of the Shandong provincial governments agenda in 2018 are a range of issues including accelerating the growth of the marine economy， strengthening the coordination of the land and sea economies， building an economy targeting marine development， promoting Shandong as an international center of marine science and technology innovation， bringing into full play Shandongs abundant marine resources， exploring new ways to maintain Shandongs status as a powerful marine province， and promoting Shandongs engineering equipment manufacturing， marine ranches and “smart maritime cities” construction.

According to Liu Jiayi， secretary of the Shandong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC）， after the 19th CPC National Congress， the province revised its development plan with an aim to make the marine economy bigger， stronger and better.

City at Sea

On May 18， 2017 in the South China Sea， China became the first country to successfully commence large-scale trial drilling of marine natural gas hydrate （combustible ice）. On June 2， trial drilling set two further world records： operating continuously for 60 days and producing 300，000 cubic meters of gas. This mission was performed by a semi-submersible drilling rig named “Blue Whale 1”， designed and assembled by Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore Limited （CIMC Raffles） based in northeastern Shandong.

Blue Whale 1， a gigantic 37-story drilling rig， was the product of 10 years of research and development and a combined investment of tens of billions of yuan. Carrying 40，000 pieces of equipment， with more than 100 major systems and over 1，000 sub-systems， Blue Whale 1s cables stretch 1，200 kilometers， equivalent to the distance between Beijing and Shanghai. Currently its selling price is US$700 million， equal to the combined price of two of the worlds largest passenger jets， the Airbus A380. With its successful operation， the Blue Whale 1 marks the end of the era of Chinas dependence on imported offshore oil production platforms.

With the completion of a trial trip of Blue Whale 2， research and development of a new generation of drilling ship of natural gas hydrate has begun， one which Shandong will continue to lead.

In addition to the Blue Whale platform， CIMC Raffles has also independently designed and constructed the semi-submersible accommodation platform CR600， which can accommodate 600 people and is equivalent to a floating hotel at sea.

Wang Jianzhong， president of CIMC Raffles， recently proposed the launch of the “Smart Maritime City” demonstration project.

“The ‘Maritime City means moving the city to the sea， which has various leisure and entertainment facilities， and it is equivalent to a super large cruise ship. Compared with the cruise ship， its area is not limited. Taking a modular super-large floating platform as the basis， it will connect with different platforms， each of which will have their respective functions. Functional platforms addressing practical demands， such as a maritime waste incineration power generation platform and maritime recreational facilities complex， will be developed and built， along with offshore comprehensive supporting facilities including floating desalination platforms， liquefied natural gas （LNG） power generation platforms， nuclear power plants， maritime environmentally-friendly wash rooms， desalination systems and maritime waste disposal systems， all of which together will form a detachable city.

“Compared to a cruise ship，” Wang said， “this platform is stable and less costly； after all， it doesnt need to sail. This leading demonstration project will create new opportunities for Shandongs marine economy to develop. We are working on the research and design of Maritime Cities for several cities in China.”

“Every offshore platform is a small observation station. We are going to install various sensors on the net cages to observe the ocean in an omni-directional manner， so we can sell both the platform and the data，” said Wang. With the construction and promotion of the “Smart Marine Ranch”， “Smart Maritime Cities” and “Maritime Natural Gas Network”， they will form an oceanic big data network while also providing a physical carrier and data platform for marine defense and integrated observations so as to take full advantage of the ocean to develop industries.

New Marine Technology

Boasting a large number of state-level marine science and technology platforms and marine research institutes， Shandong continues to accelerate the development of marine high-tech industries by relying on the Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology and the Marine Big Science and Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences， while also accelerating cultivation of Qingdao West Coast New Area and Blue Silicon Valley and establishing marine biological industry clusters in the cities of Qingdao， Yantai， Weihai and Weifang.

A range of impressive marine projects are currently underway in Shandong， including construction of a “Yantai-made” marine ranch platform， enriching a national marine gene pool in the Qingdao West Coast New Area， putting into operation one of the worlds leading seaweed biological production line， and conducting test breeding of salmon in cold water in the Yellow Sea， the first effort of its kind in the world.

Using mature marine engineering platform technology， Shandong has also built a self-elevating marine ranch. The ranch is 20 meters long， 20 meters wide and two meters high， with four 35-meter-long cylindrical legs. With a hydraulic plug-type lifting system， powered by wind and solar power， the marine ranch is like a villa standing still on the surface of the deep sea. It can be used for marine ranch breeding， observing and researching marine water quality， tourism and recreational activities， as well as fishing. In the future， dozens of such self-elevating marine ranches will be set up in the coastal areas in Shandong.

Upgrading marine aquaculture from offshore to deep-sea platforms will improve the quality of aquatic products and bring healthy and high-quality seafood to consumers. In 2018， according to Shandong Provinces Oceanic and Fishery Department， net cages will be installed around the ranch platform and all the original offshore aquaculture net cages will be gradually withdrawn and moved to the deep sea.

Innovation and research surrounding the sea cucumber， conducted by generations of marine scientists in Shandong， has been driven by booming consumption of sea cucumber， which in turn has led to greater prosperity in the aquaculture industry： with annual sales increasing to 50 billion yuan （US$7.9 billion） from 5 billion yuan （US$0.8 billion） 10 years ago， sea cucumber has become the largest single-product by sales of precious marine products.

Liu Changheng， a delegate to Shandongs Provincial Peoples Congress and director of the Food Biotechnology Lab at Biology Institute of Shandong Academy of Sciences， began researching the processing methods of sea cucumber in 2000 and since then has made products such as instant sea cucumbers， as well as liquids， capsules， tablets and granules made from sea cucumbers， thus forming an industry chain of frozen sea cucumber products， ready-to-eat snacks and health foods. Given that the main ingredient of sea cucumber is collagen， Liu has used bionic industrial production methods to make sea cucumber easier to digest （through a process known as “enzymatic hydrolysis”） and then mixed the product with seaweed to make special medical foods possessing a higher nutritional content.

The development of Shandongs marine biology industry can play a leading role in the broader marine aquaculture industry. Liu Changheng pointed out that， like the sea cucumber， many useful active ingredients can be extracted from aquatic products. For example， seaweed contains anti-radiation components， while jellyfish has components which can help to lower blood pressure， and both are raw materials which can be formed through industrial processes respectively. According to Liu， the province should select key subjects and form an industry-wide collaborative innovation platform focusing on achieving research breakthroughs. Shandong should also have a global perspective and establish institutes overseas， take advantage of overseas intellectual resources and build Shandong into a strong marine province.

Coordination of Land and Sea

Currently， Shandong has put forward a number of proposals， including strengthening the coordination of land and sea industries， integrating coastal ports and marine resources， optimizing the layout of ports， promoting the construction of the ports in Qingdao， Bohai Bay， Yantai and Rizhao， establishing the Shandong Port Investment Holding Group Corporation， and building a national base for deep-sea development.

Shandong has also attached great importance to marine ecological protection. This year， Shandong will focus on a pilot project concerning the comprehensive protection and utilization of coastal zones and implementing a mechanism of “bay chiefs” to protect waters in all coastal areas in the province. Shandong will also incorporate key marine environmental indicators into the provinces comprehensive assessment system for economic and social development.

In January 2018， Chinas State Council approved an Overall Plan for Construction of a Comprehensive Experimental Zone of the Transformation of Old and New Driving Forces in Shandong， a plan which is not only the first national development strategy for the region approved after the 19th CPC National Congress but also the first regional development strategy in China thematically structured around the transformation of the old and new driving forces. To achieve the goal of transforming the old and new driving forces， the high-quality development of marine economy will play a crucial role.

Liu Jiayi， secretary of the Shandong Provincial Committee of the CPC， said， “The ocean is the biggest and newest economic driving force， so we need to take full advantage of it with the aim of implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”