Qingdao is rich in coastal and ocean resources with a total coastline of 862km. Its main economic activities include manufacturing industries, port and tourism. Qingdao has a high scientific capacity in ocean management, accommodating 25 ocean research and education institutions as well as more than 5000 maritime experts who specialize in ocean scientific research, education and ocean management. There are 49 bays and 69 islands in the jurisdiction of Qingdao, a large part of which is a shallow sea area of less than 20m water depth. To strengthen the capacity for ocean management, the ocean administration and management departments were set up in Qingdao in 1995 and six other coastal cities later. Efforts are also being made for improving the implementation of sea area user-free system, marine environment monitoring, marine functional zoning scheme, environmental impact assessment, and enforcement and supervision of illegal fishing.
