Over 300 marine experts and officials from around the world gathered in east China's Shandong Province on Wednesday to discuss the future of the country's marine economy.

The delegates made speeches and held roundtable dialogues on topics including sustainable development of marine economies, industrialization of marine technology, and exploitation of marine resources, at the 2013 China International Blue Economy Summit Forum, which was held in the coastal city of Qingdao.

The Xinhua Ocean Development Index, the first such index in China, was jointly published the Xinhua (Qingdao) International Ocean Information Center and the State Financial Information Center Index Research Institute.

The Xinhua (Qingdao) International Ocean Information Center, the sponsor of the forum, is an organization jointly set up by the Xinhua News Agency, the provincial government of Shandong and the government of Qingdao City in 2012.

"The index will document the latest progress of China's marine development for both central and local governments, and help the public to understand the achievement and challenge of China's marine industry," said Shen Haixiong, deputy editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency, at the forum.

"The forum provides a platform for international communication and cooperation, and will boost the development of China's marine economy," Shen added.

The marine economy is playing a more and more important role for the world's economic development, and has become a major strategy to compete with other countries, according to Sun Wei, executive vice governor of Shandong.

Oddmund Otterstad, senior researcher for the Norwegian Institute of Agricultural Economy Research, stressed the importance of environmental protection and the necessity of setting up a protection zone of marine resources for the sustainable development of the "blue economy."

The first marine forum was held in 2011 after the establishment of the Shandong Peninsula Blue Economic Zone in 2009.

This is one of three regional ocean economic zones approved by the State Council. It covers all of Shandong's offshore territory, or 159,500 square km of ocean. It also covers 64,000 square km of land, including six prefectures and two coastal counties.