4
K. Zou
After 1978 when China began its economic reform and implemented its opendoor policy, the Chinese government also began to consider making ocean policy. In
1984, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) submitted to the State Council a report
entitled “Study Report on Ocean Development Strategy in China” which contained
12 basic policies regarding ocean development.
3 In 1989, the same Administration
prepared another report on China’s ocean industrial policy, which was regarded as
the first governmental report addressing development policies of marine industries.
4
By the 1990s China had carried out economic reforms and had opened its door to
the outside world for more than a decade, with the rapid development of its economy,
China turned more attention to the ocean and the formulation of national ocean policy.
It is reported that the first National Ocean Working Conference held in Beijing in
January 1991 adopted the report on China’s Ocean Policy and Working Outlines.
5
In 1993, the National Commission on Science and Technology published its Blue
Book—Marine Technology Policy, which aimed at adopting new technologies for
marine surveying and comprehensive investigations, improving marine monitoring
and public service systems, protecting marine environment, developing marine engineering technology, improving marine communication and navigation positioning
systems, and developing and using marine resources.
6 This document is described as
the first comprehensive and macroscopic guidelines for the development of marine
science and technology.
7
There are several driving forces pushing forward the development of China’s
ocean policy. First is the adoption of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS
Convention) in 1982 and its entry into force in 1994. China regards this international
treaty as representative of the new law of the sea as opposed to the so-called old law
of the sea, represented by the four Geneva Conventions on the law of the sea. China
ratified the LOS Convention in 1996. Based on that Convention, China enacted two
basic ocean laws: the 1992 Law on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone and
the 1998 Law on the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf.
8 The
second driving force is the maritime enclosure movement around the world after the
LOS Convention. Coastal states have extended their maritime space at least to 200
nautical miles under their national jurisdiction. China just followed suit and with
the enactment of the 1998 EEZ Law, China established its EEZ regime. Maritime
disputes with other countries concerning overlapping maritime areas and islands have
been thus intensified. The third driving force comes from economic development
3 Li Guoqing (ed.), Study on China’s Comprehensive Ocean Management (Beijing: Ocean Press)
(in Chinese), 1998, 300.
4 Li, ibid., 300–301.
5 Li, ibid., 303.
6 For details, see National Commission on Science and Technology, Marine Technology Policy
(Beijing: Ocean Press, 1993) (in Chinese).
7 Ma Yingjie and Xie Xinying, “China’s Ocean Policy”, in Li Yongqi and Lu Shouben (eds.), Study
on Basic issues Concerning the Management of the Use of Sea Areas (Qingdao: Ocean University
Press, 2002) (in Chinese), 43.
8 Zou Keyuan, China’s Marine Legal System and the Law of the Sea (Leiden/Boston: Martinus
Nijhoff, 2005a), 338–345.
K. Zou
After 1978 when China began its economic reform and implemented its opendoor policy, the Chinese government also began to consider making ocean policy. In
1984, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) submitted to the State Council a report
entitled “Study Report on Ocean Development Strategy in China” which contained
12 basic policies regarding ocean development.
3 In 1989, the same Administration
prepared another report on China’s ocean industrial policy, which was regarded as
the first governmental report addressing development policies of marine industries.
4
By the 1990s China had carried out economic reforms and had opened its door to
the outside world for more than a decade, with the rapid development of its economy,
China turned more attention to the ocean and the formulation of national ocean policy.
It is reported that the first National Ocean Working Conference held in Beijing in
January 1991 adopted the report on China’s Ocean Policy and Working Outlines.
5
In 1993, the National Commission on Science and Technology published its Blue
Book—Marine Technology Policy, which aimed at adopting new technologies for
marine surveying and comprehensive investigations, improving marine monitoring
and public service systems, protecting marine environment, developing marine engineering technology, improving marine communication and navigation positioning
systems, and developing and using marine resources.
6 This document is described as
the first comprehensive and macroscopic guidelines for the development of marine
science and technology.
7
There are several driving forces pushing forward the development of China’s
ocean policy. First is the adoption of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS
Convention) in 1982 and its entry into force in 1994. China regards this international
treaty as representative of the new law of the sea as opposed to the so-called old law
of the sea, represented by the four Geneva Conventions on the law of the sea. China
ratified the LOS Convention in 1996. Based on that Convention, China enacted two
basic ocean laws: the 1992 Law on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone and
the 1998 Law on the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf.
8 The
second driving force is the maritime enclosure movement around the world after the
LOS Convention. Coastal states have extended their maritime space at least to 200
nautical miles under their national jurisdiction. China just followed suit and with
the enactment of the 1998 EEZ Law, China established its EEZ regime. Maritime
disputes with other countries concerning overlapping maritime areas and islands have
been thus intensified. The third driving force comes from economic development
3 Li Guoqing (ed.), Study on China’s Comprehensive Ocean Management (Beijing: Ocean Press)
(in Chinese), 1998, 300.
4 Li, ibid., 300–301.
5 Li, ibid., 303.
6 For details, see National Commission on Science and Technology, Marine Technology Policy
(Beijing: Ocean Press, 1993) (in Chinese).
7 Ma Yingjie and Xie Xinying, “China’s Ocean Policy”, in Li Yongqi and Lu Shouben (eds.), Study
on Basic issues Concerning the Management of the Use of Sea Areas (Qingdao: Ocean University
Press, 2002) (in Chinese), 43.
8 Zou Keyuan, China’s Marine Legal System and the Law of the Sea (Leiden/Boston: Martinus
Nijhoff, 2005a), 338–345.