People’s Daily Front Page: Guangdong Accelerates the High-Quality Development of Its Marine Economy

Towering tower cranes and winding pipe racks stand alongside nearly 8,000 workers who toil around the clock, welding pipelines and installing equipment. At the Maoming Green Chemical and Hydrogen Energy Industrial Park in Guangdong, construction is rapidly advancing on Phase I of the Donghua Energy (Maoming) Alkane Resource Comprehensive Utilization Project.

“Everyone is pulling out all the stops, striving to conduct the joint commissioning test in October.” These days, installation engineer Lin Jinxiong has been working tirelessly at the project site, rigorously ensuring construction quality. “As a member of the Communist Party, I am committed to performing my duties to the best of my ability, contributing to the development of a high‑quality marine‑industry project and, through concrete actions, welcoming the successful convening of the 20th National Congress of the CPC.”

Walking along Guangdong’s coastal regions, scenes of vigorous construction are everywhere. From Nan’ao in Shantou to Shenquan in Jieyang, from Shabai in Yangjiang to Xuwu in Zhanjiang, trillion-yuan‑scale marine industry clusters—spanning offshore engineering equipment and offshore wind power—are taking shape. Meanwhile, in Maoming, Donghai Island in Zhanjiang, Guangzhou, and the Daya Bay area of Huizhou, five major integrated refining and petrochemical complexes are expanding capacity and boosting efficiency. Amid the enthusiastic atmosphere of welcoming the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, cadres and people across Guangdong’s coastal areas are working in unison to accelerate the high‑quality development of the marine economy, contributing to the province’s efforts to become a strategic fulcrum in the new development paradigm.

On September 6, BASF Group of Germany held a ceremony marking the full-scale construction and the commissioning of the first production unit at its BASF (Guangdong) Verbund site in Zhanjiang, Guangdong. Upon completion, the project will become BASF’s third-largest integrated production base worldwide. Beyond BASF, this year has seen continued significant progress on major port‑adjacent industrial projects—each valued at over US$10 billion—such as those undertaken by ExxonMobil and CNOOC Shell, helping to solidify Guangdong’s position as a world‑class coastal petrochemical hub.

Off the southern coast of Nan’ao County in Shantou City, near the Lemeng Archipelago, 35 seven-megawatt wind turbines—built and operated by China Datang Corporation—stand tall against the vast expanse of blue waters. By the end of this year, Datang’s 352,000-kilowatt expansion project in Shantou is set to commence, further expanding Guangdong’s offshore wind power capacity. According to Qu Jiasu, Director of the Guangdong Provincial Ocean Bureau, in 2021, new investments in Guangdong’s offshore wind sector exceeded RMB 70 billion, with the province accounting for nearly one-third of the nation’s total newly connected offshore wind capacity.

Welcoming the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has become a powerful pillar in driving the robust development of Guangdong’s marine economy.

In early September, Guangdong Province successfully completed its first annual survey of nearshore seabed baseline data for the year. In addition to 17 manned vessels, the mission also deployed five unmanned boats independently developed by Zhuhai Yunzhou Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. “We have obtained more than 390 authorized patents and have mastered a number of key technologies, including autonomous navigation, obstacle‑avoidance sensing, and collaborative control for unmanned surface vessels,” said a representative from Zhuhai Yunzhou Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.

At present, Guangdong has essentially established a marine science and technology collaborative innovation system comprising “laboratories + science popularization bases + collaborative innovation centers + enterprise alliances.” The province has more than 140 marine-related R&D platforms at or above the provincial level, spanning areas such as marine biotechnology, marine disaster prevention and mitigation, marine pharmaceuticals, and marine environmental protection.

The recently released “Guangdong Marine Economy Development Report (2022)” shows that in 2021, Guangdong’s total marine GDP reached RMB 1.9941 trillion, up 12.6% year on year, accounting for 22.1% of the national marine GDP and maintaining its position as the nation’s top performer for the 27th consecutive year. Under the “14th Five-Year Plan for Marine Economic Development of Guangdong Province,” the province will focus on building and refining a comprehensive marine industry ecosystem, fostering five marine industrial clusters each exceeding RMB 100 billion in scale; it will also develop four types of demonstration zones—centered on the agglomeration of high-end marine industries and driven by marine technological innovation—to steer the green and efficient development of the marine economy across sectors such as industrial upgrading, technological advancement, regional coordination, and ecological sustainability.

“It is essential to deeply recognize Guangdong’s responsibilities and mission as a major maritime province, firmly regard the ocean as a strategic priority for high-quality development, accelerate innovation in marine science and technology, enhance our capacity for developing marine resources, and foster and strengthen emerging strategic marine industries,” said a responsible official from the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee.