— To further care for, know about and manage the seas, said Xi Jinping at the 8th study session of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee

The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee organized the 8th study session on the afternoon of July 30 on building China into a maritime power. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the session. He stressed that to build China into a maritime power is an important part of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The 18th CPC National Congress worked out the significant strategy of building China into a maritime power. The implementation of this strategy will play a significant role in pushing forward the country’s sustainable and sound economic development, safeguarding its sovereignty and security as well as development interests, reaching the goal of building a well-off society and realizing the great revitalization of the Chinese nation. We need to show further care to the sea, try to know more about it and manage it well, so as to make more achievements in efforts to develop China into a maritime power.

Zeng Hengyi, Deputy Chief Engineer of China National Offshore Oil Corporation and also an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Gao Zhiguo, research fellow at China Institute for Marine Affairs, expounded on this topic and aired their views and gave an advice.

Members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee carefully listened to their speeches and held discussions on relevant questions.

Xi Jinping made a speech during the session. He pointed out that in the 21st century, mankind has entered a period of large-scale development and utilization of oceans and seas. Oceans and seas have a very important role to play in a country’s economic development and opening up and in safeguarding sovereignty, security, and development interests. Oceans and seas are playing an increasingly striking role in the country’s ecological civilization development as well as in global political, economic, military and scientific competition.

Xi pointed out that as a land power, and also a maritime power, China possesses extensive strategic interests. After years of development, China’s maritime cause has entered a prime time, which lays a solid foundation for development into a maritime power.

We should take into consideration the overall situation of China’s cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, alongside both domestic and global situations. We should stick to the road of equal emphasis on land and sea, depending on the sea to reach a richer life and to make China a strong power, while at the same time we value the harmony between mankind and the sea and are ready to carry out win-win cooperation with other countries in a peaceful, cooperative and progressing manner, to push forward the development of the country’s maritime power.

Xi stressed the importance of improving the ability of maritime resources development, and that the marine economy should be made more qualitatively efficient. A developed maritime economy is an important backbone in the efforts of building a maritime power. We need to develop the capability of ocean development and expand areas to be tapped, with a view to making maritime economy a new growth point. It’s important to make more efforts to promote the planning and guidance of maritime industry, optimize the structure of maritime industry and raise the quality of maritime economic growth, alongside nurturing and strengthening strategic emerging maritime industries, so as to raise the maritime industry’s contribution to the country’s economic growth and make it a pillar industry to the national economy.

It’s important to protect the ecological environment at sea, and maritime development should be carried out in a recycled way. We must make a decision to take effective measures to fully curb the deterioration of the marine ecology and reach a striking change in the country’s marine ecology, so that people can have access to green and safe seafood and enjoy a blue sky, green sea and clean beaches. Marine ecological protection should be internalized into the overall planning of maritime development. It’s important to emphasize development and protection, as well as pollution prevention and ecological restoration. We should rationally exploit marine resources and safeguard the sea’s reproductive capability. Efforts should be made to effectively control the discharge of pollutants into the sea from roots, accelerate the development of a marine ecological damage compensation system, carry out marine restoration projects and push forward the construction of marine conservation zones.

Xi Jinping stressed the importance of developing maritime scientific technologies, so that China will play an innovative and leading role in this field. In order to build a maritime power, it’s necessary to develop high-tech maritime technologies. We should try to break the bottlenecks that prevent further development of maritime economy and marine ecological protection by relying on science and technology as well as innovation. There should be overall planning in the innovation of marine technologies. The focus should be on breakthroughs in deep water, green and safe marine high-end technologies. Particularly, we should emphasize the research and development of urgent core and key technologies in the process of maritime economic transition.

Xi points out that to safeguard the country’s marine rights and interests it’s important to take into consideration the overall situation. We are peace lovers and we are committed to peaceful development. However, China will never abandon its legitimate rights and interests and by no means sacrifice its core national interests. We should focus on both the maintenance of stability and the safeguarding of national rights, and try to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and security. Development interests should be in line with each other while safeguarding maritime rights and interests should go hand in hand with the enhancement of the country’s comprehensive national power. Disputes should be solved through peaceful dialogue, so as to maintain peace and stability. We should prepare for various complex situations, develop our capabilities to safeguard maritime rights and make unswerving efforts to safeguard the country’s rights and interests. We should stick to the principle that “China owns the sovereign rights, but shelves disputes and carries out joint development,” so as to promote mutually friendly cooperation and expand more common interests with other countries.