The Qingdao West Coast New Area is riding high on the development of country's maritime economy.

The revenue generated by the marine sector grew to 86.6 billion yuan ($13.4 billion) last year, an increase of 21.3 percent from a year earlier. Estimates are that it will keep to an average of 15 percent annual growth through to the end 2019.

The region is home to 296 key marine sector enterprises, including the China National Offshore Oil Corp, Qingdao Pacific Container Co Ltd and Bright Moon Seaweed Group.

Approved by the State Council, China's cabinet, as the ninth national-level new area in June 2014, the area is playing an active role in advancing two national strategies for civilian-military integration and developing China into a strong maritime country.

Positioned as a forerunner of Shandong's opening-up and Qingdao's innovation-driven growth, the area's GDP grew 12.3 percent on the previous year to 287 billion yuan in 2016. That ranked it among the top three State-level new areas in terms of GDP.

Located by the Yellow Sea and on the west coast of Jiaozhou Bay, the area covers 2,127 square kilometers of land, and 5,000 sq km of sea. It has a 282 km of coastline and administers 26 towns and sub-districts, as well as 1,228 villages with a total population of 1.84 million.

The area's prime location, marine technological expertise, international logistics and industrial clusters contribute to its economic growth.

Situated in the intermediary zone between the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the area is a main ocean outlet for areas along the Yellow River.

The area is also home to two gigantic deep-water port terminals, Qianwan and Dongjiakou.

Managed by Qingdao Port, they have established trade relations with more than 700 ports in 180 countries and regions.

Their combined cargo throughput topped 500 million metric tons last year, ranking Qingdao Port - which comprises the two harbors - seventh among global ports.

The 400,000-ton Dongjiakou Terminal is the world's largest ore terminal.

(China Daily 09/11/2017 page15)