Beijing, China: China’s marine economy is expected to grow at an annual rate of more than 13 percent in the next five years, according to Liu Cigui, Director of State Oceanic Administration in China. With an aim to boost the marine economy, Liu said, China may launch HY-2 satellite, a marine remote sensing satellite series, later on this year.
To further explore oceanic resources, China’s deep-diving manned submersible vessel “Jiaolong” will attempt to dive to a depth of 5,000 meters this year after it successfully reached 3,759 meters under the sea last year.
As the first manned vehicle in the world designed to reach 7,000 meters below sea level, the submersible can be used in 99.8 percent of world’s sea areas, according to the vehicle’s chief designer Xu Qinan. China’s oceanic industry recorded an annual increase of 13 percent in the past five years to top 3.8 trillion yuan (579 billion U.S. dollars) last year and employed more than 33 million people.
Earlier, on January 4th, the State Council approved a development plan for the country’s first ocean economic zone in the coastal province of Shandong, in an effort to bolster marine economy.
Source: Xinhua
