Shanghai signs agreement with neighboring cities to develop oceanic industries
The Pudong New Area signed a cooperation agreement with Ningbo, Zhoushan in Zhejiang Province and Nantong in Jiangsu Province in Lingang area on Friday, the 10th World Oceans Day.
The agreement aims to give full play to the ocean resources of the four coastal cities to build up a cross-region incubator to cultivate more talents and projects around the Yangtze River Delta region.
Zhang Chunyu, a researcher of ocean industry from Peking University, said it marked another step of the city to become a leading global maritime city.
According to Bai Tinghui, chief of Shanghai Oceanic Bureau, the gross domestic product of the city’s ocean industries, including ship and maritime equipment manufacture, coastal tourism and biopharmacy, in 2017 reached 800 billion yuan (US$125 billion), accounting for 26.5 percent of the city’s total GDP.
Many oceanic companies and industrial parks are located in Lingang area. Wang Jian, manager of Lingang High-Tech Development Group, said underwater robot and unmanned ship technology of Shanghai is taking the lead in China. Many high-tech projects are being industrialized.
“The agreement with the other three cities will make up for Shanghai’s geographic disadvantage in developing oceanic technology,” said Wang. “As Shanghai’s coast line is too short, many projects lack the space to perform.”
Meanwhile, from Friday on, the city will organize various public events to promote people’s awareness of protecting the ocean.