The city landscape of Dinghai district, Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province [Photo/zhoushan.cn]

Dinghai district in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province has seen its booming marine economy go from strength to strength over the past year. 

Statistics show that output of the district's petrochemical and ship repair industries increased by 10.2 percent from January to November last year, and the aquatic product processing industry maintained steady growth.  

The wharf for oil discharge in the district's Waidiao Island, with a capacity of handling 300,000 metric tons of oil, entered operation on Dec 29, with the first oil tanker, Petropavlovsk from Liberia, arriving at the wharf carrying 96,900 tons of crude oil that day. 

Following Petropavlovsk was a 100,000-capacity oil tanker from the Marshall Islands and a 300,000-capacity tanker from Hong Kong earlier this month. 

The wharf, plus an oil depot and pipeline, with an investment of 1.5 billion yuan ($221 million), is an important supporting facility of the city's Green Petrochemical Base and plays a key role in building a whole oil and gas industrial chain in the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

The result can be attributed to the district's vigorous reforms and innovations in its industrial structure, which in turn have promoted sound economic development in the past year. 

Local authorities accelerated the transformation of its shipbuilding industry and introduced internet technologies to enhance the deep processing of agricultural and aquatic products.

In addition, the added value of the district's high-tech, strategic emerging and manufacturing industries saw a year-on-year increase of 7.4 percent, 5.1 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively.

Zhejiang Bei Kun Intelligent Technology Co, based in the district's Ocean Science City, has been working on a large modern unmanned surface vehicle (USV), which is expected to be launched in June.

"We aim to build a State-level USV test field for both military and civil uses," said Mu Haifang of the company, adding that 55 research institutes and companies contributed to the R&D of the vehicle. 

With the local government's encouragement in innovation and entrepreneurship, the district's Ocean Science City has seen 109 startups registered and 53 companies settling there over the past one and a half years.

Petropavlovsk from Liberia arrives at the 300,000-capacity wharf in Waidiao Island carrying 96,900 tons of crude oil on Dec 29, 2018. [Photo/zjsgzw.gov.cn]