14narrative. Domestically, the concept of the blue economy might be overly generalized, resulting in unfocused policy objectives and difficulties formulating concrete action plans. Internationally, if China lacks a clear blue economy strategy, it may struggle to take a leading role in shaping the global development of the SBE — one which underpins innovation, efficiency and long-term environmental, social and economic resilience. Although “blue economy” remains the dominant term at present, the deepening of sustainability concepts and the development of emerging technologies, such as marine carbon sinks and blue hydrogen, may drive an upgrade of the concept. Furthermore, if global narratives for an SBE become highly binding, China may need to adjust its terminology to better integrate into the international system. 2.1.2 Implications of the policy development Over the past 12 years, China’s approach to ocean- related development has shifted from conventional exploitation to a more balanced and sustainability-focused paradigm, aligning with global sustainability agendas. This evolution is reflected in directives from the Communist Party of China and national policies detailed in the 13th and 14th FYPs. The congresses of the Communist Party progressively emphasized developing the ocean economy while protecting ocean ecology, with the 20th congress highlighting “ecological civilization”. The FYPs set green and smart technologies as principles for ocean development, prioritizing industries such as distant water fishery, desalination, pharmaceutics, ocean equipment and ocean services, and expanding to include ocean tourism, near- shore green aquaculture and sea ranches in the 14th FYP. Both FYPs incorporated ecosystem-based comprehensive management of the ocean, including functional zoning, development intensity control, reclamation control, coastal area conservation and restoration, fishing intensity control, fishery moratorium implementation and pollutant quota systems. Maintaining 35% of the coastline in its natural condition has been a consistent target that China has pursued through actions like the “mangrove for south, tamarisk for north” restoration and strict pollution control enforcement. “Ocean governance” was also emphasized in both FYPs, alongside international and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) agendas, aiming to project China’s positive SBE impacts globally. These efforts demonstrate China’s ambition to become a powerful maritime country through balanced and sustainable ocean development. 2.1.3 Integrating MSP with SBE agenda As the scale of marine development and utilization continued to grow, China began implementing marine functional zoning in the 1980s to balance marine ecological conservation with the development and use of marine spaces. This effort has been continuously refined and improved in practice. Before the 2018 State Council institutional reform, China’s MSP system was based on the Law on the Administration of the Use of Sea Areas and the 33 “30×30 Leads Nature Day As The Most Prominent Biodiversity Goal to Combat Climate Change“, High Ambition Coalition for Nature & People, 2023, https:/ /hacfornatureandpeople. org/30x30-leads-nature-day-as-the-most-prominent-biodiversity-goal-to-combat-climate-change/ .Marine Environmental Protection Law, forming a framework characterized by multi-department collaboration, but with fragmented responsibilities. The core of this system consisted of marine functional zoning and the marine principal functional zoning plan. Additionally, there were a range of specialized plans, such as the island protection plan and the coastal protection and utilization plan. During this period, China’s marine spatial development gradually shifted toward higher quality and efficiency, with significant improvements in marine ecological environment quality. However, this system faced several issues, including a disconnect between terrestrial and marine planning, overlapping departmental responsibilities, and inefficiencies in governance. Recognizing the importance of natural capital and ecosystem services in coastal and marine spaces, as well as the necessity of integrating land and marine planning for ecological conservation, China entered the “multi-plan integration” stage of territorial spatial planning following the establishment of the MNR in 2018. Under this new framework, territorial spatial planning and China’s “national-provincial” two-tier coastal zone planning have become the core of MSP, replacing the traditional marine functional zoning system and fully inheriting the responsibilities related to MSP. This new system divides marine space into “marine ecological space” and “marine development and utilization space,” with strict “marine ecological protection redlines” established within ecological spaces. These redlines aim to ensure the protection of critical ecosystems while restricting unregulated development. China has also joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People in 2023, demonstrating China’s dedication in meeting the global biodiversity target to protect at least 30 percent of the planet’s land and ocean by 2030.33 In order to strengthen the coordination with the SBE and ocean governance agendas to achieve the area-based marine protection targets, it is necessary to evaluate the MSP system based on SBE development principles and goals, and strengthen the application of scientific data on marine biodiversity and resources, as well as incorporating the socio-economic parameters for sustainable local livelihood and industry developments. Further information on improving Ocean Accounting that can provide foundation to support MSP and policymaking will be elaborated in Chapter 3.

Advancing China's Sustainable Blue Economy 2025