News from Xinhua News Agency on May 24, 2005 said that July 11 is set as the Maritime Day of China since 2005 with the approval of the State Council. Meanwhile, the day will be also regarded as the implementation day of the World Maritime Day in China.

　　On that day, Admiral Zhang Xusan, former deputy commander of the PLA Navy, came into tears when he got the news at a courtyard in the west of Beijing. "This is a piece of good news that I have expected in last 20 years!" 20 years ago, ten institutions including the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the PLA Navy, the State Oceanic Administration, jointly sponsored and established the "Preparation Committee for the Commemoration of the 580th Anniversary of the Ocean Voyages by Great Navigator Zheng He" in Beijing. Members of the committee unanimously proposed that July 11, the weighing day of Zheng He's first long-distance voyage, should be set as the "Maritime Day".

　　Twenty years passed in a flash. In the last 20 years, China has made outstanding achievements in maritime transportation, marine fishery and marine science investigation. Now, China is the first and largest country of container importation and exportation and the largest center of container maritime transportation in the world. "China factor" has become the focus of the world's maritime transportation market. China's ship building industry has entered a new stage for rapid development. In 2003 alone, ships with the carrying capacity of 6.41 million tons have been manufactured in China, accounting for 11.8% of the world's total deadweight tonnages and ranking the third place in the world.

　　"The setting of the Maritime Day not only has its important political, economical, military, cultural and diplomatic significance, but also will play an active role in promoting the construction of a strong maritime country suited to the 21st Century and in realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation", said Admiral Zhang.

　　"Both fortune and danger come from the sea. A powerful country can never disregard the sea." These are the words Zheng He said to the Chinese emperor 600 years ago. Why should we cast our sight to the sea? Admiral Zhang Xusan answered this question in three sentences: for removing the phrase "to lament one's littleness before the vast ocean" from our dictionary, for hoisting China's national flags among the forest of masts of the large maritime powers, and for a more comfortable life of the Chinese nation on the earth.

　　By Wang Wenbin and Liu Xuan

　　(July 6, PLA Daily)