Ocean of dreams in China

By Li Jingyu

China, with a sea territory of some 3 million sq km, should put an equal emphasis on the development of both the land and the sea. Jia Ce / for China Daily
 

China must protect its maritime resources with firm resolve to safeguard economic, security interests

When psychologists and sociologists define China's national character from a geographic perspective, many of them tend to describe Chinese as "continental" rather than "oceanic".

This is the case of China. Although the nation, which was home to Zheng He, arguably the most famous navigator in ancient history, boasts a sprawling coastline of 18,000 km, the Chinese people have often lived off the land. In fact, the reliance on land reached a crescendo during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, when both governments sealed off its coastal lines in a "close-door" strategy until Western powers opened them with gunboats.

The continental ethos was inherited even after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. One piece of evidence is that Chinese school textbooks for several decades stipulate that China has a land territory of more than 9.6 million sq km but they do not mention the size of the county's sea territory - which is 3 million sq km.

However, things are changing.

The Chinese government seems to have been paying greater, if not unprecedented, attention to the ocean in recent years.

One of the latest signs was written in black and white in its 12th Five-Year Plan, a blueprint of the economic and social development from 2011 to 2015.

In the 62-chapter document endorsed by the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, in March, "promoting the development of the ocean economy" for the first time became an independent chapter. It reads: "(China will) stick to coordinating the development of the land and the ocean, formulate and carry out the strategy of developing the ocean and enhance the ability of developing, control and comprehensively manage the sea."

The declaration is strong proof that China will put an equal emphasis on the development of both the land and the sea.