China's Marine Sector Grows 11% in 2008

China's seas contributed 2.97 trillion yuan ($434.53 billion), or 9.87 percent, of the country's GDP last year, according to a report issued by the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) on Friday.

The report on China's marine economy in 2008 said the value of marine industries, including fishing, transport, oil and gas, tourism and shipbuilding, grew 11 percent year-on-year, faster than the nation's economy as a whole.

The main pillars of the marine economy were the traditional industries of transport, tourism and fishing, which accounted for 77.69 percent of total output value, according to the report.

The SOA spokesman Li Haiqing said: "The industries including tourism, transport, and oil and gas saw slower growth in 2008 because of the winter storm at the beginning of last year and the financial crisis in the latter half year."

"Though receiving less orders amid the crisis, the shipbuilding sector managed to maintain fast growth," he said. The value of the shipbuilding industry hit 76.2 billion yuan last year, up 36.4 percent.

Emerging industries, such as the oceanic biological pharmaceutical industry, which generated more than 5.8 billion yuan last year, up more than 28.3 percent year-on-year, grew swiftly, according to the report.

The marine industry employed 32.18 million people last year, 670,000 more than in 2007, the report said.

The gross production value in the Bohai Bay Rim Area was 1.07 trillion yuan, accounting for 36.1 percent of total output of the marine sector. While the gross production of the Yangtze River Delta region amounted to about 958.4 billion yuan, or 32.3 percent of the total output.

"Opportunity outweighs challenges in 2009," Li said in prediction of next year's marine economy development.

Growth in the marine sectors including transport, shipbuilding, and tourism will be further slowed this year due to the international financial turmoil, he said. But the emerging industries will maintain a relative fast growth rate.