Amplify the supporting role of the "Blue Engine"

The Ministry of Natural Resources recently released the “2025 China Marine Economy Statistical Bulletin,” which shows that by 2025, the total marine output value will reach 11.018 trillion yuan. Of this, the added value of the marine manufacturing industry will be 3.523 trillion yuan, a 6.8% increase from the previous year, surpassing the growth rate of the marine economy by 1.3 percentage points. The supporting role of the marine economy continues to become more evident. This confirms China’s strong resilience in its marine economy and highlights the key supporting role of the marine manufacturing industry as the “blue engine.”

China’s marine manufacturing industry has formed a large-scale, comprehensive system, establishing competitive advantages in shipbuilding, offshore engineering equipment, and other fields. It is also showing trends toward intelligence, green development, and integration. However, the industry still exhibits the characteristic of being “big but not strong.” Although it has moved toward the high end of the value chain, it still faces challenges such as insufficient自主可控 capabilities for core technologies and key components, the need to strengthen industrial基础能力 and collaborative efficiency, and the urgency to optimize development models and resource allocation. To address these issues, systematic measures should be taken from multiple dimensions, including strengthening technological innovation, optimizing the industrial ecosystem, innovating factor supply, and deepening open cooperation, to promote the leap from scale expansion to quality and efficiency improvement in marine manufacturing.

Strengthen technological innovation and break through core bottlenecks. Resources should be concentrated to implement key core technology projects for the marine industry. Focus on critical areas such as deep-sea detection sensors, green ship power systems, intelligent navigation and control software, and high-end marine special materials, and plan major national科技 projects. Reinforce the leading role of企业创新主体, support leading enterprises to take the lead, and collaborate with universities and research institutes to form创新联合体, establishing a“需求方出题、科研界答题、市场方验效”collaborative mechanism to accelerate the transformation of科技成果 from laboratory samples to production lines and marketable products. For example, at the third Marine Economy Sci-Tech Innovation Forum held last October, Fuzhou Marine Research Institute, as the chair unit, jointly launched the Marine Technology Transformation Alliance with six副理事长 units including China Shipbuilding Seventh Research Institute and Seventh Research Institute, to promote more marine科技成果 from “paper” to “sea,” from “laboratory” to “industry chain.”

Optimize the industrial ecosystem and promote collaborative coexistence. Strengthen national-level planning and guide coastal regions to develop based on resource endowments, avoiding low-level homogeneous competition. Focus on rebuilding the foundation of marine manufacturing, improving the性能 and可靠供应能力 of core基础零部件 and关键基础材料. Use工业互联网, artificial intelligence, and other technologies to digitize the entire design, manufacturing, and operation process, enhancing lean production and overall chain efficiency. Key efforts should be made to cultivate several world-class advanced manufacturing clusters with distinctive features and complementary advantages in ship assembly, offshore platforms, marine new energy equipment, and deep-sea intelligent equipment, forming an产业生态 led by“头雁” and flying in“群雁”。

Innovate factor supply and stimulate market vitality. Improve the投融资体系 suited for the long周期 and high风险 characteristics of marine manufacturing, leverage the guiding role of marine产业投资基金, develop供应链金融 and知识产权质押融资, and guide more社会“耐心资本” into high-end manufacturing and frontier fields. Deepen改革 of resource element markets such as海域 and islands, promote layered and tiered rights allocation for海域使用权, and ensure major projects are implemented. Accelerate the construction of a marine data element market, promote the safe and orderly flow and development of marine environment, ship navigation, and equipment operation data, and drive technological, financial, and talent flows through data streams. Implement the “Blue Talent” cultivation plan to build a talent梯队 covering战略科学家,卓越工程师, and high-skilled人才, strengthening the foundation for innovation.

Deepen open cooperation and expand development space. Relying on the Belt and Road Initiative, especially the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, encourage优势制造企业 to“组团出海,” and promote Chinese技术, standards, equipment, and services to go global in a coordinated manner. Actively participate in rule-making and revisions within international organizations such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO), strengthening standards and discourse power in emerging fields like绿色航运,智能船舶, and深海采矿. Proactively build a “Blue Partnership,” conducting pragmatic cooperation in marine科技研发, high-end equipment联合制造, and市场共同开发, enhancing China’s marine manufacturing industry’s国际竞争力 and品牌影响力 through win-win collaboration.