Using its well-established industries and rich resources, the city aims to become the "Silicon Valley"of marine technology. Photos provided to China Daily

Shandong province aims to develop its "blue economic zone" into a powerhouse of marine science and technology, and the city of Qingdao has its sights set on becoming the world leader in marine technology innovation.

When the blue economic zone was integrated into the national development strategy in January 2011, the Qingdao government initiated its plan to turn itself into a "Blue Silicon Valley".

Jiang Daming, the governor of Shandong, said the province had made turning Qingdao into a Blue Silicon Valley a priority in its report to the provincial congress in February, and the Qingdao Blue Silicon Valley Development Plan, which was launched that month, featuring a total area of 576,000 square kilometers, comprising 351,000 sq km on the land and 225,000 sq km of ocean.

The land area is described as "one zone, one belt, and one park". The zone is the Blue Silicon Valley Core Area. The belt is a long strip of land from the core area to Laoshan Mountain in the south, and the park is Jiaozhou Bay North Park of the High-Tech Zone.

According to the plan, the Blue Silicon Valley will be an environmentally friendly new town with comprehensive planning, comprehensive infrastructure, and sophisticated urban services. It will be an international marine science education center with a cluster of top oceanographic research institutes with leading marine technology scientists and specialists, both domestic and foreign.

The first economic zone to specialize in indigenous innovation in marine science and technology, it will be an incubator for breakthrough technologies and will nurture deep-sea technology innovation and commercialization.

Jiang said great efforts are being made to enhance the quality of Qingdao's ongoing development and to accelerate the adjustment of the industrial structure and that indigenous innovation is being encouraged to boost Qingdao's core competitiveness.

"Apart from its rich reserve of marine resources and advantages in scientific research and education, developing a Blue Silicon Valley will be a linchpin for Qingdao to grow into a leading marine city," Li Qun, Qingdao Party chief and member of the standing committee of the Shandong Party committee, told China Daily in a recent interview.

"The Blue Silicon Valley will boost Qingdao's core competitiveness, raise the development level of the Shandong peninsula's 'blue economic zone' and strengthen China's overall oceanographic innovation capability," he said.

He explained that developing a Blue Silicon Valley would exploit Qingdao's advantages, such as its concentration of marine research institutes, its deep talent pool in ocean science and technology, its connecting of technological research at all levels, to establish a national hub of research and development into marine technology, and create an incubation center for technicians and scientists.

The city has 28 marine research institutes, or just over a third of China's total and 20 key laboratories at the ministerial level. It has 19 academics including the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering; a third of the country's oceanographic experts and 70 percent of China's academicians specializing in ocean research live in Qingdao. It's been home to 23 oceanographic vessels and six ministerial and one national marine scientific observation stations.

Li said that Qingdao was already in position to become a Blue Silicon Valley. It is the bridgehead to Shandong peninsula's blue economic zone and it has already made major breakthroughs in artificial breeding technology for kelp, edible seaweed, prawn and scallop cultivation.

It also has competitive emerging industries, beyond the traditional fields such as fisheries, harbor logistics, shipbuilding, and tourism, in marine life and biomedicines.

In 2011, Qingdao's marine-related industries had an output value of 189 billion yuan ($29.62 billion), an increase of 12.3 percent year-on-year, and it is targeting 200 billion yuan and a growth rate of 15 percent this year.

By 2020, the Blue Silicon Valley is expected to be in the vanguard of international scientific research into marine resources, especially those hidden in deep-sea waters. By then, it is hoped, Qingdao will be the place to transform cutting-edge research findings into commercial successes.

xiechuanjiao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/31/2012 page24)