China plays an outsized – and growing – role in world affairs.  This is certainly the case when it comes to the blue economy, in which China is the dominant actor in the global seafood supply chain, among the top five maritime shipping nations, and poised to see growth in ocean energy development, mining, and tourism.

With such significant economic activity tied to the oceans, China exerts considerable influence on the health of the marine environment. With that influence comes a responsibility to enhance environmental stewardship, one that is taking on an increasing focus in the evolution of China’s national policy.

China has been a vocal supporter of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, including #14 focused on ocean conservation. This support is perhaps most tangible in China’s current five-year plan, one of the nation’s most important policy instruments. Five-year plans were once strict economic planning documents, but increasingly are weaving together China’s economic, social, and environmental development. Their influence is such that major actors in Chinese society, from government to industry to finance and beyond, shape their priorities, strategies, and investments in response to each plan. The most recent five-year plan calls for creation of an “ecological civilization” at home and abroad. Building on this mandate, environmental sustainability was a dominant theme in President Xi Jinping’s address to the recent National Party Congress.

Find out more about ocean conservation in China by Jake Kritzer at EDF Voices