The Zhoushan Green Petrochemical Base, which leads the world in terms of scale and refining-chemical integration, lights up at night. [Photo by Chi Mingzun for chinadaily.com.cn]

The marine economy has become a new driver of high-quality development in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, over the past five years.

The the annual output of the city's green petrochemical industry exceeds 100 billion yuan ($14.94 billion), four of its shipbuilding companies have been listed among the top 10 in the world, and the output of its distant-water fishing industry accounts for 22 percent of China's total.

Zhoushan also leads the country in low orbit satellite communication chip production, large-scale tidal power generation equipment manufacturing, artificial breeding of yellow croakers, and river-sea ship development.

Over the past five years, Zhoushan's average annual GDP increase stood at 8.9 percent, while that of fiscal revenue was 15.1 percent. In addition, the city has invested 438.8 billion yuan in fixed assets during the same period.

In 2021, its per capita GDP exceeded 140,000 yuan, ranking 16th nationwide and becoming one of the cities in the Yangtze River Delta with the fastest economic growth.