Studies on Charges for Sea Area Utilization Management and Its Effect on the Sustainable Development of Marine Economy in Guangdong Province, China

Audit Evaluation and Driving Force Analysis of Marine Economic Development Quality

High quality development of the marine economy is the main focus of China’s future. This paper combined principal component analysis (PCA) method, coupling coordination degree (CCD) model, and data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to evaluate the quality of marine economic development, and analyze the drivers in Jiangsu Province, China, from 2008 to 2016. The results show that the investment in marine economic development has gradually declined, while the output has been increasing. It gradually presents a state of intensive development with low input and high output. The coupling coordination level of high-quality development of the marine economy in 2009–2014 and 2016 was above the good coordination level. The quality of marine economic development continued to grow, with an average increase of 25.1%, of which the technological progress change index played a decisive role, mainly through improving total factor productivity. Marine economic development is becoming more diversified. Total industrial wastewater discharge, the added value of marine and related industries, and the number of marine-related employees are the main influencing factors.

The Blue Economy and the United Nations' sustainable development goals: Challenges and opportunities

The "Blue Economy (BE)" is an increasingly popular concept as a strategy for safeguarding the world's oceans and water resources. It may emerge when economic activity is in balance with the long term capacity of ocean ecosystems to support the activity in a sustainable manner. Importantly, the concept of BE posits the inherent conflicts between two discourses-growth and development, and protection of ocean resources. The inherent conflicts require solutions to embrace the opportunities associated with the ocean economy while recognizing and addressing its threats. The potential solutions on a global scale are advocated by the United Nations in their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, we notice that the identification of the scope and boundaries of the BE in line with the UN's SDGs is vague even challenging, and the key stakeholders and their interests and roles in the BE are also vague. This review examines the scientific evidence of the association between the BE and the UN's SDGs, and relevance and alignment of stakeholders on the link between the BE and SDGs. Based on a literature survey between 1998 and 2018, we find that BE is highly associated with SDGs 14-17. Notably, we find that stakeholders prefer SDG 3 Good Health & Well-Being and SDG 8 Decent Work & Economic Growth in the BE context. As stakeholder involvement shows some differences and variations in the relationship between the BE and SDGs, we consider that stakeholders can play some roles directly or indirectly in the BE-SDGs context. In order to set achievable goals and targets in BE-SDGs, we support that key stakeholders should be identified to play several important roles in prosperous economic, societal development and setting tolerable ranges for the ocean biosphere.

China’s Maritime Economic Development: A Review, the Future Trend, and Sustainability Implications

China has experienced unprecedented economic growth and structural change in the past decades. This paper reviews the development of China’s maritime economy for the period of 2002 to 2017. According to official data from China’s government, the total production value of China’s maritime economy increased from RMB 1068 billion in 2002 to RMB 7761 billion in 2017, thus contributing to about 10 percent of China’s total gross domestic product. This paper applies four-parameter logistic models to identify the associated trends and predicts the near-future values for the total, primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors of China’s maritime economy. It is projected that China’s total maritime economy will reach RMB 8894 billion in 2019. Besides, the growth of China’s maritime economy has been and will be dominated by the growth in the tertiary sector, particularly of China’s coastal tourism and transport industries. Specifically, China’s coastal tourism increased from RMB 147.8 billion in 2002 to RMB 1463.6 billion in 2017. In terms of spatial development, the east and north-east coasts of China experience more rapid maritime economic growth than the south-east coast. The implications for the sustainability of China’s maritime economy are presented.