With the support of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, the Tianjin municipal government has decided to build the park with an area of 120 sq km in a coastal area. The first phase will cost 30 million yuan (3.6 million US dollars).

The park will promote the research and development of marine fisheries as well as seafood production and processing, which will be a new economic growth point of the city's fishing industry, said the municipal government.

As north China's largest port city, Tianjin is relatively developed in the fishing and aquacultural industries. It now boasts 40,000 hectares of aquacultural area with an output of 266,000 tons of aquacultural products a year.

The city also boasts 1,180 inshore and 20 ocean fishing vessels, which provide the market with approximately 50,000 tons of sea products each year.

(Xinhua News Agency April 22, 2003)