A US cargo ship docks at the Qingdao Port, Shandong province. [Photo by Yu Shaoyue/For China Daily]

Authorities in Shandong underscored the importance of understanding the ocean and accelerating the pace of innovation in marine science and technology to develop Shandong into a strong maritime province during the 12th Shandong Provincial Congress of the Communist Party of China, which opened on May 28 in Jinan, the provincial capital.

Shandong, surrounded by the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, has a 3,345-kilometer coastline. The province relies and thrives on the sea, which boasts tremendous development potential for Shandong, according to local officials.

Over the past five years, Shandong has integrated resources to establish a provincial port group, which has improved the port capacity, quality and efficiency in an all-round way.

The scales of Shandong's marine fishery, marine biomedicine and other industries all rank first in the country and Shandong's modern marine industry has become the backbone of new economic growth drivers.

The province has taken the lead in establishing a marine ecological red line system and implementing a marine ecological compensation mechanism throughout the country to better protect and improve the marine ecology.

The report of the 12th Shandong provincial Party congress proposed that in the next five years, Shandong will vigorously develop the marine economy, adhere to land and sea planning, strive to become a strong marine province, and build a leading national marine economic area in the country.

Shandong Port Group (SPG) is the world's largest port conglomerate in terms of cargo capacity. SPG has made tremendous gains since its integrated reform in 2019, and in the next five years, the company will make the most of the advantages brought by the integrated reform, in a bid to expand its businesses and better serve the regional economy, said Huo Gaoyuan, a 12th CPC Shandong Provincial Congress delegate and president of SPG.

In the next five years, Shandong will intensify efforts to speed up the progress of constructing world-class sea ports, a well-established modern maritime industry system, and a green and sustainable marine ecological environment.