The year 1998 has been designated by the United
Nations as the International Ocean Year, and on this occasion the Chinese
government would like to introduce the progress of China's work in this
particular field to the world.
I. Sustainable Marine Development Strategy
China has a population of more than 1.2 billion, and its land natural
resources per capita are lower than the world's average. Official
statistics show that China has a land area of 9.6 million sq km, making it
the third-biggest country in the world. However, the land area per capita
is only 0.008 sq km, much lower than the world's average of 0.3 sq km per
capita. In recent years China's average annual amount of freshwater
resources has been 2,800 billion cu m, ranking sixth in the world; but the
amount of freshwater resources per capita is only one fourth of the
world's average. China is rich in land mineral resources, but the amount
per capita is less than half the figure per capita worldwide. As a major
developing country with a long coastline, China, therefore, must take
exploitation and protection of the ocean as a long-term strategic task
before it can achieve the sustainable development of its national economy.
China boasts a mainland coastline of more than 18,000 km. There are
more than 5,000 islands in China's territorial waters, each with an area
of more than 500 sq m, and the islands' coastlines total more than 14,000
km. China also exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over the vast
continental shelves and exclusive economic zones (EEZs), as defined by the
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Located in medium and low latitudes,
China's sea areas have comparatively advantageous natural environmental
and resource conditions. Some 20,278 species of sea creatures have been
verified there. The fishing grounds that have been developed in China's
sea areas cover 818,000 square nautical miles. The shallow seas and
tidelands have a total area of 13.33 million ha, of which 2.6 million ha
of water surface are suitable for the raising of aquatic products in terms
of the current scientific level. So far, 938,000 ha are being utilized for
this purpose. Scattered in these offshore waters are more than 30
sedimentation basins, with a total area of nearly 700,000 sq km. It is
estimated that there are about 25 billion tons of oil resources and 8.4
trillion cu m of natural gas in these basins. More than 160 bays are
spread along China's coasts, plus the deep-water stretches of coast with a
total length of several hundred kilometers. Many spots along the coastline
are suitable for constructing harbors and developing marine
transportation. There are more than 1,500 tourist, scenic and recreational
spots favorable for developing marine tourism. In addition, China's
offshore areas abound in seawater resources and regenerable marine energy
resources.
The China Ocean Agenda 21 formulated by China in 1996 put forward a
sustainable development strategy for China's marine programs. The basic
ideas of this strategy are as follows: To effectively safeguard the
state's marine rights and interests, rationally develop and utilize marine
resources, give positive protection to the marine eco-environment and
realize the sustainable utilization of marine resources and the marine
environment as well as the coordinated development of the work in this
field. In this regard China abides by the following basic policies and
principles:
--Safeguarding the new international marine order and the state's
marine rights and interests. In February 1992 the Standing Committee of
the National People's Congress (NPC) of China adopted the Law of the
People's Republic of China on Its Territorial Seas and Adjacent Zones. As
China's important law in this particular field, it provides a legal basis
for the country to exercise sovereignty over its territorial seas and
jurisdiction over the adjacent zones and safeguard the state's safety and
marine rights and interests. To uphold the new international marine legal
system and the state's marine rights and interests, the NPC Standing
Committee approved the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in May 1996,
and solemnly stated: "In accordance with the provisions of the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea, the People's Republic of China enjoys
sovereignty and jurisdiction over the EEZs and continental shelves up to
200 nautical miles off its coasts. Together with the countries with
opposite coasts or its neighboring countries, China shall, through
consultation and on the basis of international laws and the principle of
fairness, fix the dividing lines of each country's marine jurisdiction.
China has sovereignty over all archipelagoes and islands listed in the Law
of the People's Republic of China on Its Territorial Seas and Adjacent
Zones. Regarding disputes over marine issues between China and its
neighboring countries, the Chinese government shall, in view of the vital
interests bearing on peace and development, stand for their settlement
through friendly consultation. With regard to issues that cannot be solved
for the time being, China stands for pigeonholing them and for
strengthened cooperation and joint development.
--Overall planning for marine development and control. China will
strengthen the comprehensive development and administration of its coastal
zones, rationally develop and protect the offshore areas, actively
participate in the development and utilization of international seabeds
and oceans, and exploit the coastal land and sea areas in a unified way in
order to gradually form coastal economic belts and marine economic zones,
thus making the coastal areas more prosperous and developed.
--Rationally utilizing marine resources and promoting the coordinated
development of the marine industries. China adopts the policy of placing
equal stress on development and protection, to guarantee the sustainable
utilization of marine resources. It will comprehensively develop and
utilize its marine resources, continue to explore the oceans for new
resources, make use of new technologies, and form and develop new marine
industries to promote the sustained, rapid and healthy development of the
marine economy.
--Simultaneously planning and implementing the development of marine
resources and the protection of the marine environment. China will work
out a program for the coordinated development of marine resources and the
protection of the marine eco-environment and, in line with the principles
of "putting prevention first, combining prevention with control" and
"making the causer of pollution responsible for treating it," improve the
monitoring, surveillance, law enforcement and management of the marine
environment. Stress will be laid on strengthening the control of
land-sourced pollutants and implementing the system for controlling the
total quantity of pollutants, in order to prevent the marine environment
degenerating.
--Reinforcing oceanographic technology research and development. China
will pay attention to basic research and marshal all necessary forces to
tackle key oceanographic problems, develop marine high-techs, and
constantly improve the technological levels of marine development and
services. It will speed up the promotion and utilization of advanced and
applicable technologies, and consistently narrow the differences between
the regions in terms of the technological level of marine development.
Furthermore, the discipline of oceanography will be further emphasized in
institutions of higher learning, including vocational education, and
oceanographic personnel of various levels will be trained. At the same
time, oceanographic knowledge will be spread among the general public.
--Setting up a comprehensive marine management system. China will
continue to improve its marine function zoning and planning and strengthen
the scientific management of marine development and protection, as well as
the utilization of sea areas. Experiments in the comprehensive management
of the coastal zones will be actively carried out, and a comprehensive
control system will be gradually put in place.
--Actively participating in international cooperation in the field of
marine development. China will conscientiously fulfill the obligations
defined in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, actively take part in
international marine affairs, promote international and regional
cooperation and exchanges related to oceanic matters, and contribute its
full share to the prosperity and development of the world's work in this
field.
II. Rational
Development and Utilization of Marine Resources
In the light of the bearing capacity of marine resources, China adopts
a policy of developing and utilizing them in a comprehensive way, so as to
promote the coordinated development of the marine industries. In recent
years China has made constant efforts to upgrade the maritime fishing,
transportation, salt-making and other traditional industries. At the same
time, it has spared no effort to develop the industry of marine
reproduction and mariculture, offshore oil and gas, tourism, marine
pharmaceuticals and other burgeoning industries. It has actively explored
new marine resources as far as possible, and promoted the formation and
development of some potential marine industries, such as deep-water
mining, comprehensive utilization of seawater, and power generation with
marine energy. In 1997 the total output value of the major marine
industries, including ocean fishing, salt-making, the salt chemicals
industry, marine transportation, shipbuilding, offshore oil and gas, and
tourism, topped 300 billion yuan. As a result, these industries have
become forces actively promoting the development of China's economy as a
whole.
China's ocean fishing industry has a long history steeped in
experience. In developing this sector, the country adheres to the
principle of ``speeding up the development of aquaculture, conserving and
rationally utilizing offshore resources, actively expanding deep-sea
fishing, emphasizing processing and circulation, and strengthening legal
administration.'' Since the mid-1980s, China's saltwater aquaculture has
developed rapidly, with a large increase in species and expansion of
breeding areas. The output of such products rose from 1.926 million tons
in 1987 to 7.91 million tons in 1997, with their proportion in the total
output of the maritime harvest rising from 27 percent to 36 percent. In
accordance with the actual conditions of marine fisheries resources, China
has actively readjusted the structure of this sector, made efforts to
conserve and rationally utilize off-shore fisheries resources, and
actively exploited new resources and fishing grounds, so as to make the
fishing industry constantly adapt to the changes in the structure of
marine resources. In 1997 the total output of China's ocean fishing
industry came to 13.854 million tons. While expanding deep-sea fishing and
international fishing cooperation, China adheres strictly to relevant
international maritime laws, pays full attention to protection of the
eco-environment and, in the light of the principle of ``equality, mutual
benefit, rational development of the exploitable resources, and abstention
from infringement on the interests of other countries,'' actively develops
fishing cooperation with relevant countries and regions, in order to
jointly expand the fishing economy. Since the 1980s, China has established
cooperative fishing relations with more than 30 countries and regions.
China attaches great importance to the protection of marine fisheries
resources, and has adopted various measures to conserve such resources so
as to guarantee the implementation of a sustainable marine development
strategy. It has done this by instituting various closed fishing seasons,
closed fishing areas, marine sanctuaries and moratorium systems, banning
harmful fishing gear and methods, and restricting the size of net meshes
and the proportion of young fish. In 1979 China began to adopt a fishing
permit system to curb reckless fishing, and in 1987 the country began to
control fishing boats' horsepower. Since 1995 China has practiced a new
midsummer moratorium system--every year during July and August fishing is
banned in the sea areas north of 27 degrees north latitude. The new system
has achieved encouraging economic, ecological and social results, and from
this year the midsummer moratorium area will be expanded to 26 degrees
north latitude and its duration will be lengthened to three months. China
attaches great importance to the marine reproduction and the reproduction
of fisheries resources, and has always insisted on the marine reproduction
and releasing of prawns and other species, a measure which has achieved
positive results.
As far back as in the 1960s China began to explore and exploit offshore
oil and gas resources on its own. In the 1980s it started to absorb
foreign capital and technology to develop this industry in cooperation
with foreign companies. In exploiting offshore oil and natural gas, China
follows the policy of placing equal stress on oil and gas, with the
balance inclined slightly toward gas, combining domestic exploration and
exploitation with cooperation with foreign companies, and integrating
upstream and downstream. As a result, great progress has been made. By the
end of 1997 China had signed 131 contracts and agreements with 67 oil
companies from 18 countries and regions and imported a total capital of
close to six billion US dollars for this industry. At the same time, more
than 100 structures with oil and gas had been discovered, and 1.7 billion
tons of oil reserves and 350 billion cu m of natural gas had been found.
Twenty oil and gas fields are under development. With an offshore oil and
natural gas industry in place, in 1997 China's offshore oil output
exceeded 16.29 million tons, and its natural gas output stood at four
billion cu m.
China has worked out a policy of utilizing its deep-sea waters and
coastal resources in a rational way. According to the policy, priority
shall be given to the construction of harbors in deepwater coastal areas,
and vigorous efforts will be made to develop marine transportation.
Significant achievements have been attained in marine transportation
development since the founding of New China, especially since the
implementation of reform and opening to the outside world. By the end of
1997, merchant ships had increased to 320,000 with a total deadweight
tonnage of close to 50 million, of which more than 23 million were of the
fleets in foreign trade transportation. Harbor construction and marine
transportation in China are based on the planning concept of constructing
major waterways, harbor hubs and water transport support system. China
will put special efforts into the construction of specialized berths for
bulk goods such as containers, coal, oil, ore and grain, set up collection
and distribution channels in the rear, speed up the establishment of a
modern loading-unloading-hauling system, and construct a container
transport system with advanced freight-handling technologies and featuring
a combination of trunk lines with branch lines while strengthening the
technical transformation of old harbors to improve their handling capacity
and efficiency. At present, China has 15 harbors each with an annual
handling capacity of more than 10 million tons. In 1997 the volume of
freight handled by the country's major coastal harbors totaled 905 million
tons. In recent years China's coastal shipbuilding industry has shown a
trend of rapid development, and in 1997 China's shipbuilding tonnage
ranked third in the world.
China's marine tourism development policy features relying on the
coastal cities, stressing marine characteristics, and developing it region
by region and sector by sector. In recent years, the coastal areas have
created more than 300 marine and island tourism and recreational zones,
with a variety of marine features. Marine tourism is now a burgeoning
industry. In 1997 this sector received more than 10 million overseas
tourists.
China was one of the world's pioneers in making salt from seawater.
Some of China's new industries are associated with this aspect of marine
resources development and exploitation: salt, salt chemicals, direct
seawater utilization and seawater desalination. With an area of 430,000
ha, China's salt pans produced 29.281 million tons of raw salt in 1997.
The major salt chemical products are potassium chloride, bromide,
anhydrous nitre and magnesium chloride. The annual output of potassium
chloride and bromide each exceeds 500,000 tons. In addition, Tianjin,
Dalian, Qingdao, Yantai, Qinhuangdao and other coastal cities are now
making efforts to use more seawater directly as industrial chilled water
and non-potable water, which is of great significance for alleviating
China's serious shortage of freshwater resources.
The Chinese government has listed the exploration and exploitation of
the mineral resources of the Pacific Ocean as a long-term development
project for which it intends to offer special investment. Meanwhile, it
has established a special institution in charge of coordinating and
administering China's exploratory and exploitative activities in the
international seabed region. China is the fifth-largest investor in
international efforts for seabed development, and has obtained an
exclusive exploration and development area of 75,000 sq km. In the future,
China will continue to actively participate in the administration and
development of international seabed areas, and develop new exploration and
exploitation technologies to make its due contribution to the peaceful
utilization of international seabed resources for the benefit of the whole
of mankind.
III. The
Protection and Preservation of the Marine Environment
China attaches great importance to the protection of the marine
environment. Organs and laws aimed at marine environmental protection have
been gradually established, and the people's consciousness of the
importance of protecting the marine environment and abiding by the laws
have been further strengthened, both of which have speeded up the work of
marine environmental protection. As a result, the momentum of serious
marine pollution has been slowed; the environmental quality of some of the
country's sea areas has been improved; and most offshore waters are of
good quality, despite the drastic increase in the amounts of pollutants
brought about by the booming economy of the coastal areas.
In 1982 the Marine Environmental Protection Law of the People's
Republic of China, a basic law of the country to protect the marine
environment, was approved by the NPC Standing Committee to prevent damage
to the marine environment resulting from coastal construction projects,
offshore oil exploration and exploitation, navigation of ships, wastes
dumping, and discharge of land-sourced pollutants. Later, several concrete
regulations were issued by the Chinese government, such as the Regulations
of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Marine
Pollution Caused by Ships, Regulations of the People's Republic of China
on Environmental Protection and Control Pertaining to Offshore Oil
Exploration and Exploitation, Regulations of the People's Republic of
China on Control of the Marine Dumping of Wastes, Regulations of the
People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental
Pollution from Shipbreaking, Regulations of the People's Republic of China
on the Prevention and Control of Pollution Damage to the Marine
Environment from Land-Sourced Pollutants, and Regulations of the People's
Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Pollution Damage to the
Marine Environment from Coastal Construction Projects. In addition, a
dozen rules and standards were enacted concerning marine environmental
protection by government departments. All of these laws, regulations and
rules have formed a legal framework for marine environmental protection.
Besides, programs and plans for marine environmental protection,
professional plans for the protection of wetlands and biological
diversity, an overall marine monitoring network and a nearshore
environmental monitoring network have also been put in place by related
state organizations.
In recent years, an administration system for marine environmental
protection has been gradually set up: State environmental protection
departments are in charge of marine environmental protection for the whole
country; state marine administrations are responsible for the organization
of survey, monitoring and surveillance of the marine environment, the
conduct of scientific research and the prevention of pollution damage to
the marine environment resulting from offshore oil exploration and
exploitation and the dumping of wastes at sea; state harbor
administrations are responsible for the supervision, investigation and
disposal of pollutant discharge by ships, the surveillance of harbor
waters and the prevention of pollution damage to the marine environment
caused by vessels; state fishing port administrations are responsible for
the supervision of pollutant discharge by fishing boats and the
surveillance of fishing grounds; environmental protection organs of the
armed forces are responsible for the supervision of pollutant discharge by
military vessels and surveillance of naval port waters; and environmental
protection organs of the local people's governments in coastal areas are
responsible for the environmental protection work of preventing pollution
damage resulting from coastal construction projects and land-sourced
pollutants. This coordinated network plays an important role in the
implementation of the related laws and the efficient protection of the
marine environment.
China carries out the policy of putting prevention first and combining
prevention with control in managing existing marine pollution. While
endeavoring to make a success in the protection of marine biological
resources and the prevention and control of marine pollution, China makes
the prevention and control of land-sourced pollution the focal point of
its marine environmental protection work. A series of regulations have
been drawn up to check land-sourced pollutant emission, and enhance the
monitoring, surveillance and control of the main pollutant-emission
outlets. Large and medium-sized cities have paid constant attention to
readjusting the distribution of industries, improving technical
transformation, and recovering waste gas, waste water and industrial
residue (the "three wastes") for multipurpose use. Enterprises creating
serious pollution are required to take effective measures to control it
within a definite period of time; otherwise they have to close down,
suspend operations, merge with other plants, change their products or move
to other places. Besides, a number of sewage treatment plants have been
built to control new pollution sources and reduce the amount of
land-sourced pollutants dumped into the sea. To prevent marine pollution
resulting from ship and port discharge, in addition to the formulation of
the Crash Program to Combat Ships' Oil Pollution, oil-water separators
have been installed aboard ships of all types in accordance with relevant
stipulations, and oil-polluted water treatment equipment, including
emergency treatment equipment, has been installed at all sea ports. This
equipment can help dispose of 3.7 million tons of oil-polluted water from
vessels and recover 42,000 tons of waste oil a year. Similarly, to prevent
marine environment pollution resulting from offshore oil exploitation,
besides the formulation by offshore oilfields of the Crash Program to
Combat Oil Spills During Offshore Oil Exploration and Exploitation,
oil-polluted water treatment equipment has been installed on all drilling
platforms, engine-room oil-water separators have also been installed
aboard all drilling ships, and oil barriers, chemical de-oiling agents and
spill recovery ships provided in all China's offshore oilfields.
As one of the contracting parties to the Convention on the Prevention
of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matters signed in 1972
in London, China attaches great importance to the fulfillment of the
provisions under the convention and is steadily improving its control of
the dumping of wastes into the sea. So far, China has designated 34
dumping areas for dredged materials of the third category and four areas
for midair oil discharge. It has issued about 2,000 dumping permits and
tightened up the monitoring of the environmental quality of dumping areas.
Besides, it has strictly prohibited the disposal of any radioactive
substance and incineration of toxic waste at sea, and plans to gradually
stop the dumping of industrial waste into the sea.
To protect the ecological environment of fishing grounds, the Water
Quality Standards of Fishing Grounds have been drawn up by the Chinese
government and the Regulations on the Supervision and Control of the
Environmental Sanitation of Shellfish-Raising Areas and other regulations
have been drawn up by departments concerned. In addition, a sequence of
measures have been taken to further strengthen the eco-environmental
protection of spawning grounds of saltwater fish and shrimps, feeding
grounds, wintering grounds, migration channels and aquatic farms. A
multilevel setup for the protection of the fisheries environment has been
established by the state and coastal region authorities, including 15
monitoring stations at and above the provincial level around the country
and a number of marine life protected areas in major fishing grounds. In
1995 the department concerned worked out the Procedures for the
Administration of Marine Reserves, based on the guiding principle of
``conservation first, appropriate exploitation and sustainable
development,'' and divided each marine nature reserve into core, buffer
and experimental zones, in order to improve the building and management of
the marine nature reserves. At present 59 marine protected areas, covering
gulfs, islands, estuaries, coasts, coral reefs, mangrove swamps, coastal
lagoons, marine natural history sites, seaweed beds and wetlands, have
been built, covering a total area of 12,900 sq km.
China is one of the countries which are most vulnerable to marine
calamities. The economic losses suffered by the coastal areas from storms,
tidal waves, ice floes, seaquakes, coastal erosion, typhoons, fog and red
tides account for about 10 percent of the total of all natural disasters
afflicting China. After making unremitting efforts for decades, China has
installed a basic marine environment and disaster observation network and
forecast-alarm system, covering both offshore areas and distant waters,
with the cooperation of several departments. This network engages in
analysis, forecast and grading of major marine calamities, and runs
maritime rescue centers and coastal emergency stations. As a result, a
marine disaster alleviation framework has been put in place.
The rapid economic growth and steady population increase in the coastal
areas, coupled with the constant expansion of marine exploitation, mean
that China continues to face problems of marine environmental protection
and disaster alleviation. To cope with this situation, China has adopted
the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000) and Long-Term Program to the Year
2010 for National Marine Environmental Protection, which further advances
the three major policies of ``putting prevention first, combining
prevention with control,'' ``making the causer of pollution responsible
for treating it'' and ``improving the control of the environment.'' The
following are the principal measures China will take to protect the marine
environment:
--Control of pollution sources will be enhanced by setting quality
standards for the water in all parts of rivers which flow into the sea,
establishing a system to control the total amount of pollutant discharge
into the key sea areas, identifying the marine discharge indices of the
main pollutants, and strictly restricting discharge above the initial
amount;
--The investigation, monitoring and control of marine pollution will be
stepped up by improving the pollution monitoring network, strengthening
surveillance by satellites, ships and offshore monitoring stations, and
perfecting the law enforcement system;
--Fees will gradually be levied for pollutant discharge, and all walks
of life will be encouraged to develop marine environmental protection
technologies and industries;
--The construction of the system of marine monitoring and disaster
forecasting and alarm will be stepped up, complete with an observation
network, a data collection and communication network, a forecast-alarm and
service network and a data quality control system.
IV. The Development of Oceanographic Science,
Technology and Education
In recent years China has made further efforts to promote the
investigation and exploration of marine resources and the marine
environment, search actively for new exploitable resources, study new
techniques and methods of marine resources exploitation and protection,
train technical personnel in marine development and protection, and spread
oceanographic knowledge among the general public in order to rouse the
whole nation to protect the marine environment.
On the basis of a multidisciplinary oceanographic research setup, which
consists of 109 research institutes and 13,000-some research personnel,
China has many achievements to its credit in oceanographic survey and
research, studies in basic oceanographic science, development and
protection of ocean resources, marine monitoring technologies and
manufacturing of oceanographic technical equipment.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 a large
amount of work has been done in the field of oceanographic surveys and
research, which started in offshore areas with surface observation of the
sea and later expanded to deep-sea regions by means of aerospace remote
sensing and underwater detection, as well as surface observation. As early
as in the period 1958-1960 a national comprehensive survey of China's
offshore waters was made; later, from 1980 to 1986, a comprehensive survey
of coastal zones and shoals resources was conducted nationwide, along with
the launching of a number of pilot projects on the comprehensive
development and utilization of coastal zones; and from 1988 to 1995 a
general investigation of the country's island resources and an experiment
on their comprehensive development were carried out.
China signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1983 and began to make surveys of
the Antarctic and the surrounding sea areas in 1984. By 1997 the country
had completed 14 programs of scientific investigation in this region,
using the Great Wall and Zhongshan survey stations as bases. Thus, China
has made positive contributions to the world's peaceful exploitation of
the Antarctic. In 1996 China joined the International Scientific Committee
on North Pole Research, and has taken an active part in international
cooperation projects in the Arctic, such as "The Role of the Polar Region
in Global Change."
With more attention paid to the study of the inshore shelf
oceanography, China has established a multidisciplinary oceanographic
research system with regional characteristics. Under the direction of the
oceanographic development strategy and the support programs and plans for
the development of oceanography drawn up by relevant state departments,
marked progress has been made in recent years in physical oceanography,
biological oceanography, marine geology and marine chemistry. These
achievements have provided scientific directions and references for the
promotion of offshore fishing and oil and gas exploitation, protection of
the marine environment, and reduction and prevention of marine disasters.
China makes vigorous efforts for the development of oceanographic
technologies, building up an oceanographic technology system focusing
mainly on the marine environment, exploration and exploitation of marine
resources, and general marine engineering, and covering more than 20
technological fields. The country has now turned its attention to
implementing a marine high-tech program, a program for tackling key
problems in marine science and technology and one for marine development
by reliance on science and technology. In its marine high-tech research
China gives priority to technologies covering marine monitoring, marine
exploration and resources exploitation, deep-sea exploration and marine
biology. The program for tackling key problems in marine science and
technology centers on fields directly related to modern marine
development, such as sustainable exploitation of the resources and
environment of coastal zones, desalinization of seawater, exploitation of
marine energy and comprehensive utilization of seawater resources. In 1996
government departments concerned jointly formulated the National Plan for
Implementing the "Program for Marine Development by Reliance on Science
and Technology" in the Ninth Five-Year Period (1996-2000) and to the Year
2010, which focuses on research, development and dissemination of the
technologies of marine reproduction and mariculture, fine processing of
marine biological resources, exploration and extraction of marine
pharmaceuticals and exploitation of chemical resources in seawater.
Through implementation of this plan, China hopes to foster marine
technology enterprises, improve the productivity of the marine industries,
and make the technological progress factor rise from 30 percent to 50
percent in the output increase of the marine industries.
China has basically evolved an oceanographic education system embracing
professional education, vocational education and popular knowledge
education. Oceanography as an area of study is taught in 37 institutions
of higher learning and 29 secondary specialized schools in China, training
large numbers of technical and managerial personnel. The vocational
schools, offering courses in more than 20 oceanographic fields, have
trained more than 8,000 people in the past three years. The mass media is
frequently used in China to inform young people about oceanographic topics
and educate the people living in coastal regions in the proper way to
exploit marine resources and protect the marine environment.
In addition, a service system providing oceanographic data and
information headed by the National Oceanographic Information Center has
been established in China in the wake of the progress in the past dozens
of years in this field; it provides comprehensive information services for
ocean development, oceanographic research and marine environmental
protection. Besides, in the early 1990s China built up a basic network
jointly run by government departments concerned, enterprises, research
institutes and coastal zones to promote oceanographic information
exchanges.
To give a further boost to oceanographic technology, offshore
development and marine environment protection, the Chinese government has
worked out the Medium- and Long-Term Program for the Development of
Oceanographic Science and Technology, the Oceanographic Technology Policy
(Blue Paper) and a number of concrete development plans. The main tasks
for oceanographic technology development in the future are: To strengthen
research into basic oceanographic science; tackle the key technologies of
marine resources exploitation and environmental protection; promote the
application of oceanographic technologies to marine industries; improve
marine resources development and service support for marine disaster
prevention and reduction; improve marine environmental protection; and
narrow the gap between China and the developed countries in oceanographic
technology.
V. The
Implementation of Comprehensive Marine Management
The UNCED Agenda 21, formulated at the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development in 1992, recommends that a comprehensive
marine management system be established by countries with sea coasts to
ensure sustainable utilization of the sea and coordinated development of
the marine programs. This recommendation has received endorsement from all
the countries in the world, including China. In recent years China has
established and perfected state marine management organs as well as local
organs in coastal regions, with a fairly large contingent of personnel
engaged in marine law enforcement, management, monitoring and scientific
research. Marine-related laws and regulations have been formulated and
comprehensive management exercised.
China has also improved its legislation work concerning maritime
matters. The National People's Congress has adopted the Law of the
People's Republic of China on Its Territorial Seas and Adjacent Zones,
Marine Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China,
Maritime Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, Fisheries
Law of the People's Republic of China, Mineral Resources Law of the
People's Republic of China and other related laws. The State Council has
promulgated administrative regulations, encompassing the Regulations on
the Exploitation of Offshore Petroleum Resources in Cooperation with
Foreign Enterprises, Regulations on the Administration of Sino-Foreign
Oceanographic Surveys, Regulations Governing the Laying of Submarine
Cables and Pipelines, and Procedures for the Registration and
Administration of Mineral Resources Survey Zones and Sectors. In content,
these laws and administrative regulations are all consistent with the
principles and relevant provisions contained in the UN Convention on the
Law of the Sea. The formulation and implementation of these laws, rules
and regulations has, on the one hand, protected China's state sovereignty
and marine rights and interests, and on the other, promoted the rational
development of marine resources and the effective protection of the marine
environment. Comprehensive management of China's marine areas is beginning
to be contained within a legal framework.
Aiming at the scientific, effective and comprehensive management of
marine areas, from 1989 to 1995 a total of 3,663 marine zones have been
divided into different functional types by the relevant departments of the
central and coastal area governments, encompassing development and
utilization zones, control and protection zones, nature preservation
zones, special function zones and reserved zones. From 1991 to 1994, these
departments worked out the National Plan for Marine Development, in which
the strategic objective of marine development, marine industrial
production and distribution planning, and regional marine development
planning were put forward, along with policies and measures to promote
marine development.
In recent years, China has achieved gratifying successes in
comprehensive management experiments in the coastal zones. The
Comprehensive Survey of China's Coastal Zones and Tideland Resources,
which was carried out from 1979 to 1986, has accumulated abundant
information for further efforts to be made in this field. Since 1994,
construction of the Coastal Zone Model Comprehensive Management Area has
been going on in Xiamen, with joint efforts by the Chinese government, the
UN Development Program (UNDP) and other organizations. This project, which
has achieved good results, has been praised by international organizations
and provided experience for China and other countries to draw on for work
in this regard. In 1997, China again cooperated with the UNDP in coastal
zone comprehensive management experiments carried out in Fangcheng in the
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Yangjiang in Guangdong Province and
Wenchang in Hainan Province.
The basic objective of comprehensive marine management is to ensure a
healthy marine environment and the sustainable utilization of marine
resources. To make a greater success in this, China will make further
efforts in this field, as follows:
It will perfect the legal system pertaining to the use and
administration of sea areas;
It will set up and perfect an information system to bolster
comprehensive marine management, and expand the survey and appraisal of
marine resources and the marine environment;
It will formulate large-scale offshore functional divisions and plans
for comprehensive marine development and protection;
It will set up an overall policy-making mechanism to promote the
coordinated development of marine programs;
It will gradually perfect the multi-functional force of marine
supervision and law enforcement personnel so as to form an integrated air,
sea and onshore marine surveillance and management system;
It will mobilize people from all walks of life to take part in the
protection of marine resources and the marine environment and enhance
their consciousness of the need to cherish and protect the
ocean.
VI. International
Cooperation in Maritime Affairs
As the world's oceans are an integral whole, the research, development
and protection of the oceans require common efforts by all countries in
the world. As an important developing country, China is well aware of its
responsibilities and obligations concerning international maritime
affairs. China has consistently insisted that the ocean be peacefully
utilized, and jointly developed and protected, and disputes over maritime
matters be settled in a fair manner. China has always taken an active part
in international and regional maritime affairs, promoted cooperation and
exchanges in this field, conscientiously fulfilled its duties and
contributed its share to international development of the oceans.
China has always supported and actively participated in the various
forms of marine-related activities promoted by the United Nations. China
has joined nearly 20 international organizations, including the
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO/IOC), Scientific
Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), Commission on Maritime Meteorology
(CMM), International Maritime Organization (IMO), UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), and
Pacific Conference on Science and Technology (PACON). China has also
engaged extensively in cooperation and exchanges in maritime affairs with
scores of countries in the world.
In addition, China has attended all the sessions of the Third
Conference on the Law of the Sea of the United Nations (UNCLOS) and joined
the formulation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,
thus becoming a contracting party to the latter. It has also attended the
meetings of the preparatory committees on the International Seabed
Authority (ISA) and the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.
China took part in the establishment of the ISA and was elected as one of
its first B-level council member states. As one of the first investors in
international seabed development, China has put large amounts of capital,
technology and qualified personnel into seabed exploration, which has not
only safeguarded China's rights and interests in the international seabed
but it also constitutes a contribution to man's endeavors to exploit
marine resources. Moreover, a Chinese scientist was elected as one of the
first judges of the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, playing
a positive role in international marine affairs.
China sets store by the protection and management of the high seas and
their resources. From 1993 to 1995, China participated in the formulation
of the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the December
10, 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Relating to the
Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory
Fish Stocks. China has successively engaged in negotiations with Russia,
the United States and Japan on the development and protection of the
fisheries resources of the Bering Sea, and signed and ratified the
Convention on the Conservation and Management of Pollack Resources in the
Central Bering Sea. In order to protect fisheries resources on the high
seas, China has taken part in international activities to protect tunas,
whales and other endangered species of marine life, acceded to the
International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, and
participated in the formulation of the Agreement to Promote Compliance
with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels
on the High Seas.
Oceans being a main artery across the world, international cooperation
in sea transportation is of great importance for promoting the interflow
of commodities and economic development globalwide. As a member of the IMO
China has signed bilateral maritime transportation agreements with 51
countries, making positive efforts to promote international cooperation
and exchanges in maritime transportation. At the 16th to 20th sessions of
the IMO, China was successively elected as an A-level council member
state. China has also acceded to the 30-some conventions formulated by the
IMO, such as the 1965 Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime
Traffic, 1990 International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness,
Response and Cooperation, International Convention on Standards of
Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, As Amended,
1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified
by the protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL, or 73/78 Convention on
Pollution Convention), Athens Convention Relating to the Carriage of
Passengers and Their Luggage by Sea, 1974, and International Convention
for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law with Respect to Collision
Between Vessels.
China has also taken part in global oceanographic activities, including
the GSMMP (global studies and monitoring of marine pollution), the TOGA
(tropical ocean and global atmospheric project), the WOCE (world ocean
circulation experiment), the JGOFS (joint global ocean flux study), the
LOICE (land-ocean interaction in the coastal zone), and the GLOBEC (global
ocean ecosystem dynamics), making positive efforts to promote worldwide
oceanographic cooperation. From 1985 to 1990, China sent three ships and
more than 300 scientific workers to conduct the coupled ocean and
atmospheric response experiment in the tropical Western Pacific (COARE).
Large amounts of scientific data were obtained, providing important
materials for understanding the influence of that kind of response in the
Western Pacific's ``Warm Pool'' on global climate changes, for improving
global ocean and climate forecast modes and studying the El Nino
Phenomena. China joined the North Pacific Marine Science Organization
(PICES) and the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific of the
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in 1990 and 1992, respectively.
China also joined the Working Group on Marine Resources Conservation of
the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference and other regional organizations, as
well as the Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS) initiated by the
UNESCO/IOC and other international organizations, and helped to initiate
and organize the Northeast Asia Ocean Observation System.
Since the 1980s, China has engaged in extensive scientific cooperation
in marine projects with dozens of countries, including the United States,
Germany, France, Canada, Spain, Russia, the DPRK, the ROK and Japan,
resulting in fruitful achievements in projects concerning the deltas of
the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, Kuroshio, air-sea interaction, and the
bio-diversity of Hainan Island. During the Kuroshio survey, jointly
conducted by China and Japan from 1986 to 1992, more than 100 field
operations were carried out, and meetings of over 20 scientists were
arranged, which helped to accumulate a rich store of information for
understanding the movement of Kuroshio, its regular pattern of changes and
its origin, as well as the resources variations in the fishing grounds of
the Western Pacific.
China has made strenuous efforts to foster cooperation in regional
marine fisheries on the principles of equality and mutual benefit. Under
the Agreement of Fisheries Between the Government of the People's Republic
of China and the Government of Japan in 1975, China and Japan arranged for
the development and protection of their fisheries resources every year
through negotiations. In 1997, China and Japan signed a new agreement on
fisheries, laying the foundation for long-term cooperation between the two
countries in this regard. China has held talks with the ROK, the
Philippines and other neighboring countries on the development and
protection of fishery resources in the surrounding sea areas.
China is also committed to helping developing countries train people
for marine development and comprehensive management work, and has hosted
many international maritime conferences. In 1987, the training course on
ocean management of the International Ocean Institute was offered for the
first time in Beijing. In October 1994, the China Center of the
International Ocean Institute was set up. So far, it has held three
training seminars for over 50 people from 19 developing countries,
majoring in marine development. In 1996, the Pacem in Maribus XXIV
Conference was held in China, at which positive results were attained and
a Beijing Declaration was announced.
While making great efforts for the development and protection of the
ocean, China is clearly aware of the fact that, as a developing country
with inadequate level of development and limited economic strength, China
has lagged behind some of the developed countries in this regard. The
marine scientific and technological level in China is relatively low, the
equipment used in marine development is backward and many development
areas are still in rough shape. Especially, the increasing population and
rapid economic growth in the coastal areas in recent years have put great
pressure on the marine environmental protection and hampered the rational
development of marine resources. China has put the issue of rational
utilization and protection of marine resources and the marine environment
into the overall, cross-century plans for national economic and social
development, and has adopted the sustainable development of marine
programs as a basic strategy. With the continuing growth of the forces of
social production, the further building-up of comprehensive national
strength and the gradual awakening of the people's consciousness of the
importance of marine protection, China's marine programs will definitely
enjoy still greater development. Together with other countries and
international organizations concerned, China will, as always, play its
part in bringing mankind's work for marine development and protection onto
the road of sustainable development.
