Since ancient times, the Chinese people have embraced the wisdom of coexisting with and protecting waters. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 B.C.), Guan Zhong, a prominent politician and thinker, advised “utilize wetlands and marshes wisely, permitting harvest only in due seasons,” reminding people of the importance of preserving aquatic resources.

Today, this wisdom echoes with China’s modern approaches to marine conservation and sustainable development. Initiatives like the summer fishing moratorium in the East China Sea, the construction of the marine protected areas, the Blue Bay coastal environment restoration program, and advancements in deep-sea technology are all committed to safeguarding our blue planet.

On June 8, the Department of Land Space Ecological Restoration under the Ministry of Natural Resources unveiled its 2025 case studies of marine ecological conservation and restoration, an annual release aimed at identifying replicable models, sharing best practices and encouraging local marine protection efforts.

The 15 selected cases cover diverse marine ecosystems, including estuaries, bays and islands, with a focus on critical habitats such as mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass beds and salt marshes. These projects span China’s coastal provinces, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hainan, Hebei and Liaoning.

“In recent years, China’s marine ecological environment has seen overall improvement, with enhanced functionality in regional marine ecosystems and notable progress in biodiversity conservation. These achievements not only contribute to building a beautiful China but also provide valuable practical experience for global marine ecosystem protection,” Cao Ke, then Deputy Director of the National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, told China Media Group in a 2024 interview.

Enhanced efforts

Among the 15 selected cases, Fujian in southeast China stands out as the only region with two listed projects. The Haitan Island project in Pingtan County addressed multiple ecological challenges including frequent storm surges, degraded coastal forests, severe shoreline erosion, fragile ecosystems and poor water quality.

Over the past decade, Pingtan has implemented comprehensive land-sea coordinated restoration measures, systematically rehabilitating coastal zones through sediment dredging, establishing standardized beach management systems, and combining infrastructure development with long-term vegetation restoration. These measures have progressively created an integrated ecological framework.

According to Fujian’s 2023 white paper, Pingtan restored 125 km of coastline and planted approximately 500 hectares of coastal shelterbelts between 2013 and 2023, reducing annual storm surge damage by 37 percent. These remarkable achievements in ecological restoration contributed to Pingtan being designated as a “National Forest City” in 2022, followed by Haitan Island’s inclusion in the Ministry of Natural Resources’ first list of Harmonious and Beautiful Islands released in June 2023.

The Caofeidian Seagrass Bed Ecological Conservation and Restoration Project in Hebei in north China has also been selected as one of the model cases. Seagrass beds, among the three major types of coastal marine ecosystems, provide important ecological services and possess significant economic potential.

Covering 4,427 hectares, Caofeidian’s seagrass bed is currently the largest of its kind in China. However, in recent years, this vital ecosystem has shown signs of degradation due to multiple stressors including land-based pollution, fishing activities and climate change.

Hebei has stepped up marine ecological conservation since 2019, establishing a technical framework for seagrass bed rehabilitation, which has successfully resolved critical engineering challenges in restoring degraded seabed substrates in barren patches of seagrass beds.

Local authorities have implemented long-term protection mechanisms including intelligent monitoring systems that provide real-time surveillance of human activities in restoration areas. Through regulations, public education initiatives and community-based conservation efforts, Hebei has greatly reduced human disturbances, effectively safeguarding the restored seagrass habitats.

“The conservation and restoration of Caofeidian’s seagrass beds hold considerable importance for protecting China’s seagrass ecological resources and enhancing carbon sequestration capacity, while also serving as a crucial step toward promoting sustainable development in the region’s coastal zone,” Chen Guangcheng, Director of the Key Laboratory of Marine Ecological Conservation and Restoration, under the Third Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources, told China News Service.

The Central Government has introduced several programs to encourage and guide local governments in marine restoration efforts. The newly amended law on marine environment protection, which took effect on January 1, 2024, strengthens mechanisms in areas like marine ecological protection, ecological compensation and pollution control. It also adds a dedicated chapter on marine ecological protection, mandating focused conservation for vital ecosystems like mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass beds.

Booming business

While strengthening marine environmental protection, China has also beefed up efforts to develop the marine economy. According to the 2025 China Ocean Economy Development Index, released by the Ministry of Natural Resources on June 8, the country’s marine economy optimization and upgrading sub-index reached 131, from a baseline of 100 set in 2015, demonstrating a 1.8-percent year-on-year increase. This reflects further?optimization in the marine industrial structure and continuous improvement in scientific and technological innovation capabilities.

The added value of emerging marine industries grew by 7.2 percent year on year, accounting for an increasingly large share of the marine economy. In 2024, total value of China’s marine economy surpassed 10 trillion yuan ($1.39 trillion) for the first time.

This year, the marine economy has maintained a positive growth, with the gross ocean product reaching 2.5 trillion yuan ($350 billion) in the first quarter, a 5.7-percent increase compared with the same period last year.

“This index assesses the development of China’s marine economy across multiple dimensions, including scale and efficiency, structural optimization and upgrading, resource conservation and utilization, foreign trade and investment, as well as social welfare and livelihood improvements,” an official from the Department of Marine Strategic Planning and Economy of the Ministry of Natural Resources said at a press conference.

One notable trend in this year’s sub-index is the Livelihood Protection and Improvement Index, which reached 125.7, a 1.9-percent year-on-year increase, while coastal cities reported over 14 percent growth in domestic tourist arrivals.

“The figures reflect how policy support and rebounding consumer demand are synergistically upgrading coastal recreational infrastructure and energizing marine tourism. With rising investments in public spaces along shorelines and sustained market enthusiasm, China’s coastal regions are making progress in both economic vitality and public services enhancements,” the official added.

“With China continuously expanding its visa-free policy and easing transit visa requirements, our cruise ship Spectrum of the Seas alone has attracted over 20,000 international visitors to China in 2024,” a Royal Caribbean International employee told Xinhua News Agency. “We will continue to use Shanghai and Hong Kong as home ports for our China deployments.”