Review of China policy of OED sea use management

Abstract

China government attaches great importance to the ocean energy development (OED) industry and, in national planning, lists it as a strategic emerging industry, and the ocean energy development is under rapid growth in China. Estimated on basis of relevant OED plans, there will be massive sea area used for OED projects although their potential effects remain undefined, especially those negative impacts on marine ecological environment and other marine activities. Therefore, prior to the upsurge of OED, China government has carried out instructive exploration and trials on the method and mode of OED sea use management, on basis of the features of such sea use in China and relying on the existing marine resources management system. After summary of OED status, this paper makes analysis on the characteristics, trends and existing problems of such sea use in China, introduces the efforts of China government in regulating and managing such sea use through marine functional zoning planning, industry-purposed sea use planning, feasibility assessment of sea area use, environmental impact assessment of marine engineering and so on, and elaborates the future mode and prospect of OED sea use management in China. The research results show that it is rather necessary to, prior to deployment of large-scale OED development activities, consider and demonstrate the rationality and feasibility of the sea use in OED projects regarding such four aspects as the protection of marine ecological environment, the improvement of efficiency of sea area development and utilization, the coordination of sea use contradictions between industries, and the control of scale of sea area used.