- Marine industries expand steadily, with shipbuilding orders and port activity driving momentum
- Coastal province strengthens role in global shipping and maritime supply chains amid sustained investment
Zhejiang’s ocean economy expanded to 1.28 trillion yuan ($186 billion) in 2025, up 6% over the prior year, underscoring the coastal province’s growing role in global shipping, marine manufacturing and tourism, data from the Ministry of Natural Resources shows.
Zhejiang’s total marine output ranked fourth nationwide behind Guangdong, Shandong and Shanghai, accounting for 11.6% of China’s overall ocean economy.
Growth was broadly supported by both industrial production and services tied to coastal trade.
The secondary marine sector — including seafood processing, marine manufacturing and offshore engineering construction — generated 529.9 billion yuan in value added, making up 41.4% of the province’s marine output.
The tertiary sector, led by marine transportation and coastal tourism, contributed 686 billion yuan, representing 53.6% of total value.
With a coastline stretching roughly 2,200 kilometers — the fourth longest in China and about half the length of Guangdong’s — Zhejiang is leveraging geography, manufacturing depth and logistics infrastructure to move further up the maritime value chain.
Among the region’s major industries, shipbuilding emerged as the standout performer. The sector’s value added surged 25.3% year-on-year to 24.7 billion yuan, while shipyards’ order backlog climbed 41.4% to 24.6 million deadweight tons.
As of last year, Zhejiang companies secured orders covering 13 of the world’s 18 major vessel types, highlighting the province’s expanding presence in global ship construction.
Offshore engineering equipment production also advanced steadily, with value added rising 7.7% to 17.4 billion yuan.
On the services side, marine tourism generated 217.8 billion yuan in output, up 7.3%, while marine transportation expanded 8% to 71.7 billion yuan.
Port activity continued to reinforce Zhejiang’s maritime advantage. Coastal ports handled 50.61 million twenty-foot equivalent units in 2025, an 11.9% increase from a year earlier.
Ningbo-Zhoushan Port retained its position as the world’s busiest cargo port for a 17th consecutive year, while Wenzhou and Taizhou ports each surpassed annual cargo throughput of 100 million tons.
Data shows that investment has remained a key pillar of expansion. Major projects tied to Zhejiang’s strategy of becoming a leading maritime province attracted more than 245 billion yuan in funding in 2025, maintaining annual investment above the 200 billion yuan mark for a second straight year.
