XIAMEN - China's marine economy is steadily expanding, generating a huge number of jobs and soothing energy shortage.

Gross oceanic product surged 7.6 percent year on year to 5.4 trillion yuan ($881.1 billion) in 2013, accounting for 9.5 percent of the national economy, Liu Cigui, head of the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), said at the ongoing Xiamen International Ocean Forum in Xiamen city, Southeast China's Fujian province.

Last year, some 7.56 billion tons of cargo was loaded and unloaded in China's coastal ports. Total output of deep-sea fishery amounted to 1.3 million tons, generating a revenue of 14 billion yuan, according SOA statistics.

In the first half of 2014, total oceanic output value exceeded 2.5 trillion yuan, up 8.6 percent from the same period of 2013, Liu told Xinhua at the forum, which runs until next Thursday.

Marine industries, including ship manufacturing, mariculture, fishing and several others, employed a total of 35.13 million workers last year, with economic values per capita reaching 155,000 yuan, three times more than that in 2001.

"Marine economy has become a new engine driving China's economic growth," Liu said.

He said China cares about long-term development, and that the country aims to realize harmonious co-existence with the ocean through a sustainable marine economy.

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