China's marine authority said that the protection of Bohai bay ecosystem, especially in regard to the safety of?offshore petrochemical projects in the area, will be the agency's top priority for 2012.

The?Bohai Bay [File photo]?

The State Oceanic Administration (SOA) will enhance supervision of environmental quality in Bohai Bay and well manage offshore oil platforms and waste discharges in the area, Liu Cigui, director of the State Oceanic Administration, speaking at the SOA's annual conference on Monday.

He said the administration will cooperate with Liaoning, Hebei and Shandong provinces and Tianjin municipality, which surround the bay, to lower the risk of oil leakage pollution and monitor the waste discharges.

Liu also said a standard will be drafted that minimizes pollutant discharge into the bay to protect its fragile environment.

Besides the bay area, regular patrols will be carried out around offshore petrochemical projects in all of China's marine areas, preventing and punishing illegal production activities, he added.

The speech was made after oil spills from wells operated by US energy giant ConocoPhillips in Bohai Bay.

The oil spills in June released more than 720 barrels of crude oil and 2,610 barrels of oily mud into the bay, together polluting 6,200 square kilometers of water, according to SOA estimates. The agency concluded in November that the incidents resulted mainly from negligence.

China's marine environment is worsening, and the conflicts between economic development and marine environmental protection will continue to be tense, Liu said.

"We are speeding up the establishment of a marine environment damage assessment system and regulating the legal process in marine environmental pollution cases," he said.

With the marine economy becoming another engine for the country's economy in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), coastal provinces and municipalities are going full speed in their offshore development plans.