Qingdao New Area to boost marine prospects

A new zone designated in east China's Shandong Province to steer the country's marine development has rosy prospects, insiders have said.

The Qingdao West Coast New Area (QWCNA) aims to pilot innovation in marine technology and serve as a strategic base for deep sea and off-shore exploration. Its establishment in Huangdao District of the coastal Qingdao was approved by China's State Council, the cabinet, earlier this month.

Zhao Yingmin, head of the bureau of science and technology in Huangdao, said that the advanced technology owned by the area will be a trump card.

"We will work with science institutions to create unmanned submersibles to meet pressing demand for deep-sea and off-shore exploration," Zhao told Xinhua.

He said that the QWCNA is home to a variety of key scientific projects that will give the area technological firepower in its mission.

For instance, the new area has attracted the research base of China's most sophisticated research vessel, Kexue, or "Science." The ship can dock in the base and be repaired, and experiments can be conducted there.

Meanwhile, state-owned enterprise the China Ship Building Industry Corporation has delivered the first home-grown electronic propulsion system for ships along Qingdao's coast, and is building a facility to research, produce and experiment with advanced high-power engines, said the corporation's Feng Cheng.

These advantages aside, China is hampered by a number of disadvantages that make the QWCNA all the more necessary. It lacks ocean liners and ultralow-temperature stores, and has poor fishing equipment.

But the QWCNA has signaled its determination to make progress in this regard by pumping 10.17 billion yuan (1.63 billion US dollars) into building a seafood trading center as well as an ultralow-temperature storage facility with a capacity of 400,000 tonnes.

In support of the area's future development, two major ports in the QWCNA will be transformed to offer international trade and financial settlement, according to Xue Qingping, director with the local development and reform commission.

"I believe that with avant-garde technology and the infrastructure building scheming that is taking place, the QWCNA will efficiently boost our country's marine development," Xue said.

Lying in the west coast of Jiaozhou Bay, the QWCNA covers 2,096 square km of land and about 5,000 square km of water.