How Xi Jinping charts China's course to becoming a strong maritime country

Stretching 32,000 kilometers, China's coastline stands as both witness to its maritime heritage and the foundation of its oceanic aspirations. In President Xi Jinping's words, building China into a strong maritime country is a "major strategic task for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."

Over the past decade or so, this maritime endeavor has stayed at the forefront of the agenda of Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Back in 2013, Xi told the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee at a study session that a robust marine economy underpins the building of a strong maritime nation. He called for efforts to make better use of marine resources and develop the marine economy into a new growth driver.

In a congratulatory letter to the 2019 China Marine Economy Expo, Xi also called for efforts to accelerate marine sci-tech innovation, improve marine development capacity, and foster and strengthen emerging marine industries of strategic importance.

From building a comprehensive modern marine industry system to planning port and shipping infrastructure and coordinating major land-sea regional strategies, Xi has promoted extending the reach of economic development from land to sea, laying out plans and setting the direction for expanding the blue economy.

Central to Xi's developmental focus are cutting-edge maritime endeavors like polar icebreakers, oceanographic research vessels and deep-sea submersibles.

When the deep-sea manned submersible Fendouzhe (Striver) reached the trench and uncovered its rich ecosystem, and when the Meng Xiang, China's first domestically designed and built deep-ocean drilling vessel with a maximum drilling depth of 11 kilometers, was officially commissioned, Xi sent congratulatory letters stressing the important steps that China has taken in advancing marine science and technology.

Gaining momentum

The president's vision is gaining tangible form as China's maritime economy accelerates toward prosperity, with the size of the country's marine economy exceeding 10 trillion yuan (about $1.4 trillion) in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 5.9 percent as well as a surge from 5 trillion yuan in 2012.

The China Marine Economy Development Index, a key metric for assessing progress in the country's ocean-related industries, rose 2.3 percent year-over-year to 125.2 in 2024, demonstrating strong growth across the maritime sector.

The index was released by the Ministry of Natural Resources on Sunday to mark World Oceans Day.

The sector also displayed structural optimization and enhanced innovation capabilities last year, with the marine economy optimization and upgrading sub-index rising 1.8 percent year-on-year to 131.

Emerging marine industries saw output value surge by 7.2 percent, while marine enterprises secured 11.4 billion yuan in IPO financing – accounting for 17 percent of China's total IPO funds and underscoring robust capital market confidence in the blue economy.

A shared community

"The blue planet humans inhabit is not divided into islands by the oceans but is connected by the oceans to form a community with a shared future, where people of all countries share weal and woe," Xi said during a group meeting with the heads of foreign delegations invited to participate in the multinational naval events marking the 70th founding anniversary of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy in April 2019.

"We should cherish oceans as we treat our lives," Xi said, adding that maritime peace and tranquility concern the security and interests of all countries and need to be jointly maintained and cherished.

It was in this instance Xi proposed building a maritime community with a shared future for the first time, laying the foundation for new undertakings.

In a white paper released in July last year, a series of measures were introduced to showcase China's concrete actions in extensively protecting the marine ecological environment and its proactive efforts to build a harmonious relationship between humans and the ocean.

The document called for "respecting nature and prioritizing eco-environmental conservation, integrating conservation and management, and enforcing strict supervision in accordance with laws and regulations," as well as other measures.

These measures have prompted China to embark on a new journey of advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, ushering in a period of significant historical opportunity for the development of its maritime undertakings.