The China Ocean Economy Expo kicks off on Dec 3 in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province.

The Olympic Center in Zhanjiang is open to visitors.

The 2014 China Ocean Economy Expo kicked off in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province on Dec 3, attracting more than 1,000 officials, scholars and exhibitors to its opening ceremony at the city’s Olympic Center.

Zhang Hongsheng, deputy director of the State Oceanic Administration, urged the government, companies and NGOs to join hands to boost the ocean economy and make progress in maritime science and technology when he addressed the expo’s opening ceremony.

He said the ocean economy is crucial to building China into a maritime power and implementing the country’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road campaign, adding that it had become a new powerhouse for China’s sustainable economic growth.

Organized by the State Oceanic Administration and Guangdong Provincial Government, the Expo is China’s only state comprehensive maritime exposition. It is designed to showcase the latest oceanic developments from China and the rest of the world and to build a platform for international maritime cooperation.

Zhanjiang has been designated as the permanent host city of the Expo. As an important coastal city in China, it has a coastline that extends more than 2,043 kilometers and ranks third in ocean-based economic aggregate in Guangdong province. Now Zhanjiang is speeding up its efforts to develop into a coastal manufacturing cluster and a model ocean economy-based city nationwide.

With the theme of “Ocean in Blue, Sailing with a Dream”, the Expo is composed of pavilions where maritime resources, oceanic ships and equipment, marine fishing are showcased. It has attracted more than 1,280 exhibitors, 300 of which are large and even Fortune 500 companies. The Expo runs through Dec 7 and is expected to attract 500,000 visitors.

Edited by Feng Lu and Brian Salter