China’s first unmanned surface vehicle plant in Zhuhai, due to open in 2019, will add to the southern coastal city’s growing fame as a center for the burgeoning marine industry. The plant, with an investment of 300 million yuan ($43.8 million), aims to complete an industrial chain that includes research, development, testing and manufacturing of USVs, said Zhang Yunfei, founder of Oceanalpha, the major investor in the project. It holds more than 100 patented technologies for the USV, accounting for 1/4 of the total in the world, the company announced. According to zhuhai’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), the marine industry will generate an output of 180 billion yuan by the end of 2020 with an average annual growth of 13.5%. In 2017, the industrial output of the marine economy reached a record high of 124.4 billion yuan, up 14.6% from a year earlier, government statistics show.

Source: Chinadaily