China banks on blue economy to build sustainable, strong maritime future

'A strong nation faces the sea while a weak one turns its back on it," is how Lin Zexu described Britain's victory and China's defeat in the First Opium War (1839-42).

Lin, a Chinese scholar and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) official then, was well known for his crusade against opium smuggling in Guangzhou. His confiscation of more than 20,000 chests of opium and their destruction is believed to have been the trigger for the First Opium War.

China's ocean dreams date back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the seven voyages led by Admiral Zheng He in the early 1400s. The high point of Zheng's voyages was when he reached the coast of east Africa, a maritime milestone in China's history.

But sadly, the momentum pursued by Zheng was not maintained by his successors, and China remained completely shut to the rest of the world until its defeat in the Opium War.

Two centuries later, Lin's words seem more than relevant, as China's blue economy is not only giving a new impetus to the marine and fisheries sector, but also providing the blueprint for China's sustainable development in the future.

With the global financial crisis showing no signs of receding and the vulnerable economic climate putting further strain on sustainable development plans, policymakers have come to realize that the blue economy, while opening up new avenues of growth and employment, also has answers for how natural resources can be used in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner.

The importance of the maritime sector can be gauged in the keynote address of President Hu Jintao during the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November. Hu pledged that China would enhance its capacity for exploiting marine resources, develop the marine economy, protect the marine ecological environment, and "resolutely" safeguard China's maritime rights and interests.

His statement represents the broad policy consensus among the Party leadership on the course of China's future development, and the importance of China being a maritime power.

More importantly, what this also means is that the more than 3 million square kilometers of marine area in China is poised to play an increasingly important role in the nation's economic future.