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E-mail China Daily, November 14, 2012
Experts said the strategy gives the country's 3 million square kilometer marine area an unprecedented status, and closely connects the significance of the sea to the country's growth.
Given the country's dire need for resources to fuel its economy, the sea with its rich resources will play a big role in easing a shortage of resources, said Wang Fang, researcher with China Institute for Marine Affairs.
The marine area gives China more room for sustainable development, said Wang.
Wang also noted that the Chinese economy is becoming increasingly integrated with overseas countries, and water lanes play an important role in the material supply of foreign trade.
China must embrace the sea, and improve the development capacity of its maritime resources, said Wang.
According to Jiang Daming, governor of Shandong, the coastal province will try to build more marine-related industries and high-tech industries to ensure sustainable development. Jiang also said that Shandong will try to control marine pollution.
Li Guoqiang, deputy director of the Center for Chinese Borderland History and Geography at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it is urgent for China to elaborate on a full set of overall maritime plans and improve legislation in maritime laws and regulations.
According to Li, maritime strategy has been a major setback for China in the past when its maritime rights and interests were relatively underestimated, and its safeguarding of maritime rights was lagging behind. "We should focus on building ocean-related capacities, including maritime development, law enforcement and national defense capacity," Li said.
Han Xiqiu, a Party congress delegate who is also a renowned expert in ocean expeditions, said China should actively pursue global cooperation in its ocean development as the sea is not isolated but connects the whole world.
"We should provide help to the developing countries, and learn more advanced theories and techniques from developed countries," Han said.
Han also proposed that China needs to build more ocean expedition vessels to improve its ocean development capacity.
While the pledge to build a maritime power has aroused concern from some overseas observers, experts said the pledge is mainly due to domestic development instead of seeking marine hegemony.
"Some foreign countries are still not used to China's identity as a maritime player, and they worry about the challenge China may pose to those traditional maritime powers," said Jin Canrong, deputy dean of the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China.
China's overlapping claims with Vietnam and the Philippines sparked an escalation in tensions in recent years over fishing and mineral resource prospecting.
"China's vow to build a maritime power does not necessarily mean that China is seeking maritime hegemony," said Zhang Tuosheng, a researcher at the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies.
China is justified in using its lawful maritime interests, Zhang said, adding that there is great room for international cooperation in the field.
Zhang also noted that China has seen its maritime interests violated or overlapping with many countries, and some countries also accused China of violating "freedom of navigation", which is totally hypothetical.
The maritime fishery resource is another major problem China has to face, as excessive fishing and pollution has put fishery resources on the outskirts of China's coastline in danger, Zhang warned.
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