With three marine economic zones shaped, China's marine economy will grow to 4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 and to 5 percent in 2010, said the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) in Beijing Wednesday.

Sun Zhihui, SOA vice-director, said at a press conference that the three marine economic zones are the Yangtze River Delta economic zone, the Bohai Sea economic zone and the Pearl Delta economic zone, which accounted for 82.3 percent of the gross marine product in 2003.

SOA statistics show that the marine economy of the Yangtze River Delta topped the three, accounting for 33.7 percent of national total, followed by the Bohai Sea, making up 27.6 percent of total, and finally the Pearl River Delta region, reaching 21 percent of total. Their pillar industries include maritime transportation, fishery and tourism.

Offering over 7 million jobs, China's marine economy saw a record-high production of 1.0078 trillion yuan in 2003, taking a proportion of 3.8 percent of the GDP.

(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2004)