China's gross ocean product (GOP) topped 1.39 trillion yuan (US$.96 billion) in the first half, according to an initial assessment by the State Oceanic Administration (SOA).

The figure represented an increase of 6.9 percent over the same period last year, accounting for 9.91 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

"The country's GOP represented a further growth in the first half despite the world financial crisis, and will become one of the new economic engines in the future," SOA deputy director Wang Hong said at the opening of the first China Ocean Forum in Zhuhai, a city in southern Guangdong Province, Sunday.

Initiatives by local governments in coastal areas to develop ocean-related industries were the main contributing factor to the growth in GOP, Wang said.

In many coastal regions, funds and tax breaks were given to enterprises in ocean-related industries.

Shandong Province rolled out a plan in May to build China's biggest ocean chemical products base by 2011. Haikou, capital of southern Hainan Province, has allocated 11 million yuan to support the development of fish-farm industry this year.

Some coastal governments, including Guangdong and Hainan provinces, have signed agreements with the nation's oil explorers and refiners to develop offshore oil and natural gas facilities.

GOP is a component of a nation's GDP, reflecting development of ocean-related industries, including oil and gas production, fisheries, tourism and maritime transport.

GOP increased by 11 percent year on year to hit 2.97 trillion yuan in 2008, accounting for 9.87 percent of the country's GDP.

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2009)