The Qingdao Municipal Government Information Office held a press conference on the morning of April 1 to unveil the city's 2024 Blue Report Card. Qingdao's gross marine product (GMP) in 2024 reached 551.32 billion yuan, accounting for 5.2% of the national total and 30.6% of Shandong province's GMP. The marine sector contributed 33% to the city's overall GDP with a 45.9% economic contribution rate, driving Qingdao's economic growth by 2.1 percentage points. The coordinated growth in the marine economy across its three sectors is attributed to primary, secondary, and tertiary industries accounting for 2.9%, 43.5%, and 53.6% of the city's GMP, respectively.

The ocean is Qingdao's defining strength and most powerful economic driver. The city placed marine development at the forefront of its economic and social agenda last year with a pledge to enhance the quality and efficiency of its marine economy. In its attempt to position itself as a leader in China's maritime strategy, Qingdao is actively spearheading innovation and driving the rapid rise of modern marine industries, whereby the numbers resultant from this concerted effort to forge new engines of growth bear witness to Qingdao's role as a forerunner in the marine sector.

Qingdao's marine economy continued to expand last year, with the number of large-scale marine enterprises reaching 3,221, accounting for approximately 30% of Shandong province's total. The marine economy remained stable with positive growth as the 15 major marine industries in Qingdao achieved a combined added value of 252.43 billion yuan, an 8.3% year-on-year increase, contributing 31.3% of the provincial total. The development of a modern marine industrial system had seen acceleration with the "4+4+2" modern marine industries surpassing 210 billion yuan in added value last year.

Knowing very well that projects are the lifeline of industries, Qingdao has adhered to the principle of allocating resources to match project needs through the innovation of allocation models to ensure the efficient supply of marine resources. The city has approved 281 marine-use projects covering 19,800 hectares over the past two years to support key initiatives such as the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area (SCODA) and the Jiaozhou Bay Second Tunnel. By regulations, Qingdao had approved the grant of 260 million yuan in sea area usage fee reductions for 19 projects. Under the 15 Policies for High-Quality Marine Economic Development, the city has put into effect 24 incentive measures to distribute up to 140 million yuan in funding to 137 enterprises.

Qingdao has reinforced the foundation of its marine economy by mobilizing its diverse resources. The city secured 700 million yuan in funding from central budgetary allocations, ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, and government special bonds for six key marine projects. The Aoshan Bay Marine Ecological Protection and Restoration Project is notably ranked first nationwide, being awarded 400 million yuan in central funding. Qingdao also made strides in developing specialized marine industry clusters. The Qingdao West Coast New Area Modern Marine Biotechnology Cluster and Laoshan District Marine Artificial Intelligence Cluster were among the first modern marine industry clusters approved in Shandong, with Qingdao accounting for one-third of all provincial approvals. The city's establishment of eight province-level modern marine industry technology innovation centers and 31 province-level marine engineering technology collaborative innovation centers made up 47% and 27% of Shandong's totals respectively. Two of Qingdao's marine research achievements—the Global Ocean Microbiome( GOMC) and the WenHai Global Ocean Forecast System (GOFS)—were recognized among Shandong's Top 10 Technological Innovations of 2024.