The coastal province of Guangdong has led the country in the maritime economy for 24 consecutive years, generating 1.93 trillion yuan ($279.12 billion) output in the sector last year.

Guangdong's maritime output accounted for 23.2 percent of the national total and nearly 20 percent of the province's gross domestic product last year, said Qu Jiashu, deputy director of the provincial Department of Natural Resources, at a press conference on Tuesday.

Maritime tourism, transport, chemicals, oil and gas, engineering and fishing have formed the pillars of the maritime economy of Guangdong, with sectors in oil and gas, chemicals and electricity seeing the strongest growth, Qu said.

In the offshore wind power sector, for example, provincial authorities issued approvals for six projects and completed preliminary assessment for 31 projects for land use rights by the end of last year. Combined planned installed capacity of those 37 projects tops 15 million kilowatts.

Meanwhile, Guangdong also topped the country in maritime disasters last year, Qu said.

Direct economic loss from those disasters stood at 2.378 billion yuan last year, down from 5.4 billion yuan in 2017. About 99.9 percent of the direct economic loss was inflicted by storm surges, according to the department data.

Tourists walk under a huge LED screen displaying videos of marine life at the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, the largest ocean theme park in the world, in Hengqin Island of Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong province, on Jan 27, 2018. [Photo/IC]