9 Chinese Law and Policy on Marine Environmental Protection
155
region in the world
29 and provides one third of the world’s biodiversity.
30 In addition to marine living resources, mineral reserves including oil and gas have enormous
potential which makes the South China Sea strategic and political interests for China.
It is estimated that there are about 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion 190 trillion
cubic feet of natural gas in the South China Sea.
31 In the Spratly area, there are eight
sedimentary basins with an area of 410,000 and 260,000 km
2 are within China’s
unilaterally declared U-shaped line.
32 According to the report revealed by the China
National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) in 2011, an average of 193,000 barrels
of oil was produced per day by CNOOC.
33 With the increase of human population
and exploitation activities, the South China sea is now under the strong pressure of
resources depletion. According to the recent studies, some waters of South China
Sea have less than one-tenth of fish stocks they had six decades ago
34 and 70% of
the coral reefs are heavily depleted.
35
China has a long history of using the ocean and the marine economy plays a
vital role in the development of national economy. The total value of China’s marine
economy reached 8.3 trillion yuan in 2018 and accounts for 9.3% of the nation’s gross
domestic product.
36 The globe fishing and ocean farming are dominated by China.
China is now the world’s top fish producer and exporter, in 2017, the total value of
fishery output was 1231.385 billion yuan.
37 However, the explosive marine economic
growth also left a series of marine environment problems. According to the Bulletin
of the Marine Ecology and Environment Status of China in 2018, approximately
33,270 km
2 of China’s sea area failed to meet the Seawater Quality Standard Grade
29 The South China Sea is in the central ecosystem of the FAO’s Pacific West Central Region, the
most diverse and extensive shallow-water marine region in the world. See D. Rosenberg, ‘Fisheries
Management in the South China Sea’, in S. Bateman and R. Emmers (eds.), Security and International Politics in the South China Sea: Towards a Cooperative Management Regime (Routledge
Abingdon 2009), p. 62.
30 X. Vagg, ‘Resources in the South China Sea’, 4 December 2012, available at https://www.americ
ansecurityproject.org/resources-in-the-south-china-sea/, last accessed 20 January 2020.
31 U.S Energy Information Administration, ‘South China Sea’, 7 February 2013, the report is
available at https://www.eia.gov/international/analysis/regions-of-interest/South_China_Sea, last
accessed 20 January 2020.
32 For details of this line and its legal implications, see Keyuan Zou, ‘The Chinese Traditional
Maritime Boundary Line in the South China Sea and Its Legal Consequences for the Resolution of
the Dispute over the Spratly Islands’(1999) 14 International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law
27.
33 See supra note 31.
34 Rachael Bale, One of the World’s Biggest Fisheries Is on the Verge of Collapse: Major disputes in
the South China Sea are putting critical habitat—and the food supply of millions—at risk, available
at https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/08/wildlife-south-china-sea-overfishing-threat
ens-collapse/.
35 See supra note 30.
36 Liu Meng, Release of China marine economic development report 2019, 17 October 2019,
available at https://www.yidaiyilu.gov.cn/xwzx/gnxw/106639.htm, last accessed 20 January 2020.
37 China Fisheries Yearbook 2018 (in Chinese), Beijing: China Agriculture Press, 2018, p. 1.
155
region in the world
29 and provides one third of the world’s biodiversity.
30 In addition to marine living resources, mineral reserves including oil and gas have enormous
potential which makes the South China Sea strategic and political interests for China.
It is estimated that there are about 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion 190 trillion
cubic feet of natural gas in the South China Sea.
31 In the Spratly area, there are eight
sedimentary basins with an area of 410,000 and 260,000 km
2 are within China’s
unilaterally declared U-shaped line.
32 According to the report revealed by the China
National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) in 2011, an average of 193,000 barrels
of oil was produced per day by CNOOC.
33 With the increase of human population
and exploitation activities, the South China sea is now under the strong pressure of
resources depletion. According to the recent studies, some waters of South China
Sea have less than one-tenth of fish stocks they had six decades ago
34 and 70% of
the coral reefs are heavily depleted.
35
China has a long history of using the ocean and the marine economy plays a
vital role in the development of national economy. The total value of China’s marine
economy reached 8.3 trillion yuan in 2018 and accounts for 9.3% of the nation’s gross
domestic product.
36 The globe fishing and ocean farming are dominated by China.
China is now the world’s top fish producer and exporter, in 2017, the total value of
fishery output was 1231.385 billion yuan.
37 However, the explosive marine economic
growth also left a series of marine environment problems. According to the Bulletin
of the Marine Ecology and Environment Status of China in 2018, approximately
33,270 km
2 of China’s sea area failed to meet the Seawater Quality Standard Grade
29 The South China Sea is in the central ecosystem of the FAO’s Pacific West Central Region, the
most diverse and extensive shallow-water marine region in the world. See D. Rosenberg, ‘Fisheries
Management in the South China Sea’, in S. Bateman and R. Emmers (eds.), Security and International Politics in the South China Sea: Towards a Cooperative Management Regime (Routledge
Abingdon 2009), p. 62.
30 X. Vagg, ‘Resources in the South China Sea’, 4 December 2012, available at https://www.americ
ansecurityproject.org/resources-in-the-south-china-sea/, last accessed 20 January 2020.
31 U.S Energy Information Administration, ‘South China Sea’, 7 February 2013, the report is
available at https://www.eia.gov/international/analysis/regions-of-interest/South_China_Sea, last
accessed 20 January 2020.
32 For details of this line and its legal implications, see Keyuan Zou, ‘The Chinese Traditional
Maritime Boundary Line in the South China Sea and Its Legal Consequences for the Resolution of
the Dispute over the Spratly Islands’(1999) 14 International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law
27.
33 See supra note 31.
34 Rachael Bale, One of the World’s Biggest Fisheries Is on the Verge of Collapse: Major disputes in
the South China Sea are putting critical habitat—and the food supply of millions—at risk, available
at https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/08/wildlife-south-china-sea-overfishing-threat
ens-collapse/.
35 See supra note 30.
36 Liu Meng, Release of China marine economic development report 2019, 17 October 2019,
available at https://www.yidaiyilu.gov.cn/xwzx/gnxw/106639.htm, last accessed 20 January 2020.
37 China Fisheries Yearbook 2018 (in Chinese), Beijing: China Agriculture Press, 2018, p. 1.