The Ministry of Natural Resources recently released data showing that China's marine gross domestic product reached 5.1 trillion yuan in the first half of this year, representing a 5.8% year-on-year increase. Among the various sectors of the marine economy, bay economy stands out as a particularly dynamic growth driver.
The sixth meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs emphasized strengthening research on bay economic development planning and promoting the orderly optimization and integration of coastal port clusters. China possesses over 150 bays larger than 10 square kilometers, forming three major bay areas around the Bohai Sea, Hangzhou Bay, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, along with hundreds of distinctive small and medium-sized bay areas. These bay areas feature well-developed port facilities, diverse port-adjacent industries, and superior ecological environments, providing solid foundation for bay economy development.
In recent years, China's bay economy has delivered impressive results. Port construction continues to advance, with bay areas around the Bohai Sea, Hangzhou Bay, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao continuously enhancing shipping service functions, establishing river-sea combined transport systems, and achieving coordinated development of coastal port clusters. Port-adjacent industrial clusters are rapidly emerging, with the marine shipbuilding industry achieving added value of 137 billion yuan in 2024, marine engineering equipment manufacturing reaching 103.2 billion yuan, and marine pharmaceuticals and biological products generating 78.1 billion yuan.
Multi-dimensional ecological governance of bays has been implemented to create "clear waters, clean beaches, soaring fish and seagulls, and harmony between humans and the sea." The Ministry of Ecology and Environment selected and published 31 excellent cases of beautiful bays. Key projects including the Bohai Sea comprehensive management campaign, protection of Chinese white dolphins in Xiamen Bay, and mangrove wetland restoration in Shenzhen Bay have established benchmarks for integrated land-sea governance and biodiversity recovery.
A series of policies have been timely introduced, including the "Outline for Cooperative Development of the Bohai Sea Region," "Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," and "Regional Integration Development Plan for the Yangtze River Delta," providing important guidance for bay economy development and elevating bay area construction to national strategic heights.
However, certain shortcomings deserve attention. Some ports exhibit high rates of redundant construction, similar shipping services, and prominent homogenized competition. Cultural industry development lags in some regions, over-relying on elementary cultural products like scenic area tickets while failing to deeply explore bay cultural essence. Industrial coordination mechanisms remain imperfect in some areas, with transportation, equipment manufacturing, and new energy industries lacking effective linkages, making it difficult to achieve clustering effects and scale advantages.
High-quality development of bay economy requires addressing current bottlenecks while planning for the long term, using scientific planning as guidance and technological innovation as driving force to transform golden locations into golden benefits and compose a new chapter in bay economy development.
Breaking regional barriers to establish an integrated operational framework of joint construction, management, and sharing among ports is essential. Neighboring ports can jointly invest in public facilities such as waterways and dikes, reasonably allocating benefits and sharing costs according to principles of "who invests, who benefits" and "who uses, who pays." Clarifying functional positioning of each port and guiding differentiated operations in passenger transport, bulk cargo, and container services will achieve complementary advantages and avoid vicious competition. Promoting unified data platforms to monitor vessel scheduling and passenger-cargo information in real-time will enhance logistics efficiency through intelligent matching.
Enhancing cultural empowerment to cultivate new growth points in bay economy is crucial. Leveraging distinctive bay resources such as ancient port ruins, Maritime Silk Road heritage sites, and maritime folklore, integrating historical memory with modern creativity, and extracting recognizable cultural symbols will create influential cultural and creative industries. Applying AI technology to bay cultural tourism industries will enhance visitor experience and interactivity, transforming ancient bay culture into new productive forces that drive regional economic development.
Innovating institutional mechanisms to facilitate coordinated development of port-adjacent industries is vital. Scientific development planning should clarify development goals for key sectors including transportation, equipment manufacturing, and new energy industries, while coordinating allocation of capital, technology, and market resources. Leveraging synergy among government, industry, academia, and research institutes will establish innovation chains where government provides platforms, enterprises present demands, and universities conduct research, effectively improving technical levels in port-adjacent industries. Strengthening intellectual support through establishing talent exchange mechanisms among government, academia, and enterprises, including mutual assignment of technical personnel for practical training, will cultivate versatile talents proficient in both management and technology, providing fundamental guarantee for coordinated industrial development.