BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- China's marine tourism recorded robust growth in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, underpinned by the country's thriving marine economy and rising cultural and tourism consumption, official data showed on Wednesday.

From January to March, sea passenger volume and passenger turnover rose by 6.3 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively, according to data released by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Fujian and Hainan, two coastal provinces known for sea transport and tourism, reported increases of 14.2 percent and 14 percent, respectively, in tourist numbers during the period. Their tourism revenue rose by 15.5 percent and 16.7 percent over the same period, the ministry said.

Amid a burgeoning marine economy, China's marine shipbuilding sector gathered momentum in the first three months of this year. The country maintained its leading position in global market share for both newly received orders and completed deliveries of vessels, the ministry's data also showed.

A recent executive meeting of the State Council, China's cabinet, highlighted the need to advance high-quality development of the marine economy and step up efforts to build China into a strong maritime country.

The meeting urged efforts to enhance strategic sci-tech capabilities in the marine sector, help the marine industry grow stronger, perform better and scale up, open up more space for marine economic development, and play a substantive role in global ocean governance.

China has a mainland coastline stretching 18,000 km and a sea area under its jurisdiction of around 3 million square km. ■