The program for tackling key problems in marine science and technology centers on fields directly related to modern marine development, such as sustainable exploitation of the resources and environment of coastal zones, desalinization of seawater, exploitation of marine energy and comprehensive utilization of seawater resources.
In 1996 government departments concerned jointly formulated the National Plan for Implementing the "Program for Marine Development by Reliance on Science and Technology" in the Ninth Five-Year Period (1996-2000) and to the Year 2010, which focuses on research, development and dissemination of the technologies of marine reproduction and Mari culture, fine processing of marine biological resources, exploration and extraction of marine pharmaceuticals and exploitation of chemical resources in seawater.
Through implementation of this plan, China hopes to foster marine technology enterprises, improve the productivity of the marine industries, and make the technological progress factor rise from 30 percent to 50 percent in the output increase of the marine industries.
China has basically evolved an oceanographic education system embracing professional education, vocational education and popular knowledge education. Oceanography as an area of study is taught in 37 institutions of higher learning and 29 secondary specialized schools in China, training large numbers of technical and managerial personnel.
The vocational schools, offering courses in more than 20 oceanographic fields, have trained more than 8,000 people in the past three years. The mass media is frequently used in China to inform young people about oceanographic topics and educate the people living in coastal regions in the proper way to exploit marine resources and protect the marine environment.
In addition, a service system providing oceanographic data and information headed by the National Oceanographic Information Center has been established in China in the wake of the progress in the past dozens of years in this field; it provides comprehensive information services for ocean development, oceanographic research and marine environmental protection. Besides, in the early 1990s China built up a basic network jointly run by government departments concerned, enterprises, research institutes and coastal zones to promote oceanographic information exchanges.
To give a further boost to oceanographic technology, offshore development and marine environment protection, the Chinese government has worked out the Medium- and Long-Term Program for the Development of Oceanographic Science and Technology, the Oceanographic Technology Policy (Blue Paper) and a number of concrete development plans.
The main tasks for oceanographic technology development in the future are: To strengthen research into basic oceanographic science; tackle the key technologies of marine resources exploitation and environmental protection; promote the application of oceanographic technologies to marine industries; improve marine resources development and service support for marine disaster prevention and reduction; improve marine environmental protection; and narrow the gap between China and the developed countries in oceanographic technology.
