Qingdao, a coastal city in eastern China's Shandong province, has been ramping up efforts to build its marine economy into one of international renown.

Amid the global spread of the novel coronavirus, the city has taken measures to stabilize investment and facilitate the marine economy.

Qingdao has made marked progress in developing its marine economy. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In the first half of this year, deals for 46 new marine projects worth a total investment of 81.93 billion yuan ($11.73 billion) were signed in Qingdao.

These projects, which involve 12 fields including marine fishery and aquatic product processing, marine equipment manufacturing, marine transportation, offshore oil and gas industry, marine science and education services and marine tourism, will add more value to the city's blue economy, local officials said.

"Affected by the pandemic, we conducted most of our business promotions via online channels. We also negotiated and signed projects online," said Zhang Huijun, an official from the Qingdao municipal marine development bureau.

Zhang said that the local government will work with investors and companies to complete the projects as quickly as possible and provide an impetus to the development of the city's marine economy. 

Boasting a strong technical support and talent base that is competitive in marine science and technology, Qingdao is home to one-fifth of the marine research institutions in China, one-third of high-end research and development platforms at or above ministerial level, and 27.7 percent of marine academicians at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.