Ningbo and Zhoushan have been positioned as pivotal hubs for the maritime economic development of East China's Zhejiang province, according to a guideline recently released by the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission and Zhejiang Provincial Department of Natural Resources.

This is the first time Zhejiang has clearly designated the two cities as "marine central cities" in the province.

According to the guideline, Zhejiang will construct two marine industrial clusters - green petrochemical and advanced equipment manufacturing - during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period. Each of these clusters would have a scale of 1 trillion yuan ($153.85 billion).

Efforts will be made to promote the coordinated development of the green petrochemical industry in Ningbo and Zhoushan, support the two cities to carry out maintenance services for large container ships and international luxury cruise ships, and help Zhoushan become a world-class base for ship repair and building.

Wu Shengfeng, deputy head of the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission, said that the industrial development synergy between the two cities will be enhanced and this would in turn increase their attractiveness for investment.

Official data shows that Zhejiang's Gross Ocean Product (GOP) currently stands at 920 billion yuan, up 48.9 percent from 2015 and accounting for more than 14 percent of the provincial GDP.

The Ningbo Zhoushan Port handled more than 1.17 billion tons of cargo in 2020, up by more than 4 percent year-on-year and topping the global charts for the 12th straight year.

The port's container throughput hit 28.72 million TEUs last year, up more than 4 percent year-on-year and ranking third globally.