A new assessment report indicates that Shanghai has taken a leading position nationally and solidified its standing among the world's top marine cities.

The Shanghai Modern Ocean City Development Blue Book 2025 Assessment Report was released on June 8. This marks the third consecutive year Shanghai has published such a blue book and the first time it has disclosed its complete evaluation framework.

The findings reveal significant progress in both the scale and quality of Shanghai's marine economy in 2025. The city's gross marine product accounted for 10.1% of the national total, maintaining its position as China's top city for marine economic output. Among 21 representative global modern ocean cities, Shanghai's score ranked third worldwide for the third year in a row, firmly placing it within the top international tier.

An analysis of its domestic and international performance concludes that Shanghai has preliminarily established itself as a leading zone for building a strong maritime nation with Chinese characteristics, providing robust support for the high-quality development of the city's economy and society.

The city's modern ocean city construction has reached new heights. The successful trial voyage and return of the second domestically-built large cruise ship, the "Ada·Flower City," on May 27, 2026, serves as a vivid example of Shanghai's achievements in this field, signaling China's entry into a phase of "batch construction" for its cruise industry.

The ocean is a vital engine for global sustainable development. The global marine development landscape is undergoing profound adjustments, with the economic center of gravity shifting towards the Asia-Pacific region, where East Asia has become a core growth pole.

Statistics show China's total marine economy exceeded 11 trillion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 5.5%, accounting for 7.9% of the national GDP and demonstrating strong resilience.

The report notes a global shift in ocean governance from a singular focus on efficiency towards resilience, inclusivity, and sustainability. The development logic for ocean cities is also evolving from scale expansion to quality and效益, and from hard infrastructure investment to the coordinated enhancement of both hard and soft power.

Strategically located at the confluence of the Yangtze River estuary and China's north-south coastline, Shanghai holds a crucial position. It is tasked with important missions as a leader for international shipping centers, a source of marine technological innovation, a demonstration zone for marine green and low-carbon development, a hub for international marine affairs cooperation, and a testing ground for comprehensive marine governance.

The report highlights that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, Shanghai has achieved a series of pioneering results in building a modern ocean city. These include the gradual improvement of the city's marine governance system, the simultaneous growth in scale and quality of the marine economy, the continuous enhancement of marine scientific and technological capabilities, refined marine resource management, improved marine disaster prevention and control, and the deepening of marine openness and cooperation.

In 2025, Shanghai's gross marine product reached 1,112.22 billion yuan, up 5% year-on-year, accounting for 19.6% of the city's total GDP. The marine economic output per unit of sea area ranks among the highest in the country, making significant contributions to national maritime strength.

In marine technology, Shanghai has gathered over 20 marine-related universities and research institutes, more than 10 national-level innovation platforms, and 22 academicians in marine fields. Substantial progress has been made on major scientific tasks, and several ship supporting technologies have filled domestic gaps.

In ecological governance, Shanghai has addressed historical sea-use issues, maintained stable conditions in typical ecosystems, exceeded national targets for excellent water quality in nearshore areas, and significantly enhanced its capacity to defend against marine disasters.

In openness and cooperation, several alliances have been established, and Shanghai became the only city globally to host three major scientific programs under the UN Decade of Ocean Science when the global headquarters for the DOME project was inaugurated there.

In marine culture, Chongming obtained International Wetland City accreditation, and various events have boosted public awareness of the ocean.

Benchmarked against international standards, Shanghai's comprehensive performance has secured it the third position globally for three consecutive years. The report evaluated 21 typical modern ocean cities across five dimensions: marine industry innovation, shipping resource allocation, marine affairs governance, green development transition, and urban development strength.

Four Chinese cities ranked within the global top ten, reflecting the vibrant dynamism of China's marine economy and shipping sector.

Data shows Shanghai ranks first globally in several indicators, including marine education and research resources, port container throughput, and the application of high-voltage shore power.

The report concludes that Shanghai holds significant advantages in marine industry innovation, possesses strong shipping resource allocation capabilities, has achieved outstanding results in green transition, continuously improves its marine affairs governance, and has a solid urban economic and scientific innovation foundation, establishing itself as a leader in China's modern ocean city development.

Among the five sub-indicators, Shanghai performed excellently in marine industry innovation, shipping resource allocation, and green development transition, ranking first, second, and third globally respectively.

In marine industry, Shanghai leads in the number of highly-cited SCI papers, ranks second for local shipyard order books, third for marine PCT patents granted, and fourth for the number of listed marine companies. Eight Shanghai universities are among the top 200 for marine disciplines, the highest among sample cities.

In shipping resources, leveraging the Yangshan Deep-Water Port, Shanghai's shipping routes cover major global ports. Its port infrastructure and operational efficiency are world-class, with container throughput ranking first globally for 16 consecutive years.

In green development, Shanghai's continued investment in green port systems has resulted in its port green infrastructure ranking fourth globally. It has built facilities for LNG, methanol, bio-methanol, and biodiesel blends, and its high-voltage shore power connections have been the highest globally for three years.

While acknowledging these achievements, the report also objectively points out areas for improvement, such as marine affairs governance, high-end shipping services, and participation in international rule-making.

For instance, with 239 international maritime arbitration cases, Shanghai ranks second globally, reflecting its rapid rise in international maritime law and arbitration and growing institutional competitiveness. However, this figure remains significantly behind London's 1,818 cases. There is also room for growth in the number of top-tier marine law firms, maritime financing amounts, and approved action plans under the UN "Ocean Decade."

Looking ahead, Shanghai is setting its sights on becoming an internationally leading modern ocean city. The recently released "15th Five-Year Plan" outlines a dedicated chapter on strengthening marine development, utilization, and protection, explicitly calling for enhancing capabilities in managing marine affairs and accelerating the construction of a strong maritime nation.

As a leading zone for this national endeavor, Shanghai's five-year plan includes important部署 for strengthening marine spatial development, utilization, and protection, and accelerating the construction of an internationally leading modern ocean city.

The report states that looking towards the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, Shanghai will build upon its new starting point and strive towards the goals of basically building an internationally leading modern ocean city and a leading zone for a strong maritime nation with Chinese characteristics.

Facing new historical opportunities, the report suggests Shanghai should be guided by "five greater emphases" to promote high-quality development of its modern ocean city according to local conditions and shape blue momentum that leads future development.

Specifically, the report proposes development recommendations in five areas: First, adhering to planning guidance to efficiently and协同推动 marine high-quality development. Second,坚持 innovation-driven development to accelerate the cultivation of new marine productive forces. Third,坚持 industrial renewal to enhance new动能 for the marine economy. Fourth,坚持 ecological priority to promote harmonious and green development between humans and the sea. Fifth,坚持 cooperation and mutual benefit to elevate the influence of the modern ocean city.