Chinese President Xi Jinping has been inspecting facilities in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, which hosted last weekend's summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. There, the president gave his outlook on the country's innovative development and the growth of the marine industry. Rory Coen has more.

East China's Shandong province is the ideal place for the country to develop a strong maritime economy. As it borders both the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea. A strong maritime economy is what Chinese President Xi Jinping was calling for during his visit to the Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology in Qingdao.

XI JINPING CHINESE PRESIDENT "We should build China into a strong maritime economy. That's my confident belief. We should further care about the ocean, learn more about the ocean, and manage the ocean. Our next step is to put more effort into this industry, and master key technologies through independent research and development."

The president learned more about major cutting-edge sciences, independent research, and the development of high-quality maritime technology. A robotic fish and an unmanned sea vessel seemed to catch his attention. The pursuit of independent innovation was the theme of President Xi's three day visit to the seaside Province.

Inspecting a semi-submersible drilling platform at an oceaneering company in Yantai, Xi encouraged China's state-owned companies to strengthen their ability to innovate, and to develop and master more technology. The ongoing theme was reaffirmed the next day, when Xi visited a factory in Ji'nan that makes a computer that can operate even after failure. Xi stressed the key to overcoming obstacles is to become a leader in innovation.