The State Council approved the marine functional zoning of seven provinces and one municipality on Tuesday, including Hebei, Liaoning, Fujian and Tianjin, the China Securities Journal newspaper reported.

The approval means that the marine economic development has been elevated from the regional level to a national strategy, since a number of coastal regions have issued the programs for marine economic development in August.

By the end of 2020, the increased area of sea reclamation along the coastal regions won't exceed 210,600 hectares, and the areas in the mariculture zone will be expanded to nearly 2 million hectares, according to the approved zoning plan.

The marine gross product nationwide totaled 4.557 trillion yuan ($728.7 billion) in 2011, up 10.4 percent year-on-year, the statistics from State Oceanic Administration showed.

Marine economic experts said that the State Council's approval conforms to the trend of marine resources exploitation in the country, and is conducive to marine economic development. Also, the policies should guide the progress to ensure the protection of marine resources and the environment.

huangying@chinadaily.com.cn