The country's marine industry last year generated 2.49 trillion yuan (US$346.8 billion), or just over 10 percent of gross domestic product, according to a report published on Friday.

The report, issued by the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), said the value of marine industries, including fishing, transport, oil and gas, tourism and shipbuilding, grew 15 percent year on year, more than the economy as a whole.

The main pillars of the rapid growth were the traditional industries of transport, tourism and fishing, which accounted for more than 80 percent of total output value, SOA spokesman Li Haiqing said.

But emerging industries also grew swiftly last year, Li said.

The oceanic biological pharmaceutical industry generated more than four billion yuan last year, up more than 37 percent.

Offshore wind power generation also saw breakthroughs last year. With the launch in November of the first offshore wind power station, funded and run by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, the sector generated 500 million yuan, up 17 percent year on year.

Oil and gas exploration also saw gains. Last year, the Jidong Nanpu Oilfield, with reserves of almost 1.2 billion tons of oil, was detected, together with 10 other oil and gas fields.

With these new finds, marine drilling and oil and gas production generated about 77 billion yuan last year, up 17 percent on 2006, the report said.

The marine industry employed 31.5 million people last year, 1.9 million more than in 2006, the report said, and the development of a regional economy along the coastline remained strong.

The gross production value in the Bohai Bay Rim Area was more than 954 billion yuan, accounting for 38 percent of total output of the marine sector. Similarly, the gross production of the Yangtze River Delta region amounted to about 775 billion yuan, or about 31 percent of the total output.

However, Xu Linzhi, an official from the environmental protection department of the SOA, said the swift development of the maritime economy in the Baohai Bay Rim Area had been achieved at the cost of the environment.

"We must ensure growth is environmentally sound," he said.

(China Daily February 16, 2008)