An aerial view of the Qingdao Free Trade Zone in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/WeChat account: qingdaozimao]

The Qingdao Free Trade Zone is stepping up financial innovation to support the development of marine industries. Recently, it rolled out special loans for its sea cucumber industry to tackle difficulties in its development.

Sea cucumber has the largest total output of any seafood, and the industry has formed a complete industrial chain integrating breeding, processing, circulation and sales.

China's sea cucumber industry has been expanding in recent years. The output value of the whole industrial chain is estimated to have exceeded 100 billion yuan ($13.72 billion), making it a new driver of the marine economy.

However, the development of the northern sea cucumber industry has long been plagued with issues. Among the difficulties that the industry is facing is a lack of efficient and fast financial support, which has long restricted the development of the industry.

To tackle the financing problem, the FTZ has worked with Shandong Port Group, several local cold chain logistics companies and many other industrial partners to provide loans to sea cucumber companies. To date, this loan has helped raise about 60 million yuan for sea cucumber companies.

The loan is meant to promote the development of the sea cucumber and marine industries. Such projects not only provide financial support, but also emphasize the coordinated development of the industrial chain, which will inject new impetus into the sustainable growth of the marine economy.