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The vast and fertile ocean is a strategic space and treasure trove that underpins China’s economic and social development. Building a strong maritime nation is a major strategic task for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It is essential to promote high-quality development of the marine economy and forge a China-characterized path toward maritime strength to advance the Chinese path to modernization.
Since the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed the strategy of “developing the marine economy, protecting the marine ecological environment, and accelerating the building of a strong maritime nation,” the Third and Fourth Plenary Sessions of the 20th Central Committee have respectively outlined plans to “improve institutions and mechanisms for promoting the development of the marine economy” and “enhance the development, utilization, and protection of marine resources.” At the Sixth Meeting of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, General Secretary Xi Jinping has charted the course for building a strong maritime country with Chinese characteristics.
China has developed an extensive and well-structured marine industrial system that encompasses all 15 major marine sectors, featuring comprehensive sectoral coverage and substantial scale. In 2024, China’s marine economy achieved a significant milestone with its gross ocean product (GOP) surpassing 10 trillion yuan (about 1.4 trillion USD) for the first time, more than double the figure recorded in 2012. China’s shipping volume and container throughput accounted for about one-third of the global total, while its market share in vessels and offshore engineering equipment exceeded 50 percent worldwide. Moreover, China has maintained the leading position in global aquatic product output for consecutive years. While accelerating the transformation and upgrading of traditional marine industries, China is vigorously developing emerging marine sectors including offshore wind power and marine biopharmaceuticals, and actively fostering future-oriented marine industries. As a result, the marine economy is advancing toward increasinglyprofound and substantial development.
As a major large-scale state-owned enterprise primarily focused on the exploration and development of offshore oil and gas resources, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has thoroughly implemented the nation’s important directives on building a strong maritime nation and accelerating the exploration and development of deep-sea oil and gas resources. CNOOC places national energy security at the forefront of its agenda, unswervingly promotes increasing reserves and boosting production of offshore oil and gas, and firmly serves as the vanguard supporting the construction of a strong maritime nation.
China and World Offshore Energy Report is an annual flagship publication produced by CNOOC Energy Economics Institute (CNOOC EEI). Published consecutively for five years, the report has steadily expanded its industry influence and public recognition, gradually establishing itself as one of the most authoritative and influential flagship studies in China’s marine energy sector and a key product of CNOOC EEI. This report contributes CNOOC’s expertise to implementing the maritime nation strategy and advancing the high-quality development of the nation’s marine energy and economy.
The English edition reflects our commitment to sharing China’s offshore energy perspectives with the global community and fostering international dialogue on offshore energy development. We hope this report serves as a valuable reference for policymakers, industry practitioners, researchers, and all stakeholders interested in understanding China's offshore energy trajectory and its role in the global energy transition.
Due to limitations in both capability and time, the report inevitably contains some omissions and shortcomings. We sincerely welcome readers to offer their comments and suggestions to help us continuously improve the quality of future editions.
Editor
January 2026

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