In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of the report of the 19th CPC National Congress, the 14th Five-Year Plan, the State Council’s Overall Plan for Coordinating the Advancement of World-Class Universities and First-Class Disciplines, and the CPC Central Committee’s Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Philosophy and Social Sciences with Chinese Characteristics, and focusing on major national strategies such as building China into a maritime power, coordinated land-sea development, and the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as major strategic arrangements for high-quality development of the marine economy such as pilot free trade zones in coastal areas and marine economy pilot demonstration zones, Shandong University of Finance and Economics, together with relevant research forces at home and abroad, initiated the establishment of the Institute in May 2020. It was officially launched in December 2020 as a teaching and research unit directly affiliated with the university. The Institute has a postdoctoral research station in Applied Economics with a research direction in “Marine Economic Management,” and doctoral and master’s programs in the second-level discipline of “Marine Economics” under the first-level discipline of Applied Economics.

Relying on the interdisciplinary advantages of master’s and doctoral programs and postdoctoral research stations in economics, statistics, management, information, and other fields, the Institute positions itself globally with a “global vision, international standards, and leading-edge orientation,” and defines its global coordinates through “strengthening distinctive features, differentiated development, and key breakthroughs.” By gathering and cooperating with advantageous resources at home and abroad, with “fostering virtue through education” as its foundation and “world-class” as its goal, it focuses on frontier, original, and strategic research in the field of marine economy and management. With “major projects, innovative teams, and international cooperation” as the linkages, it strengthens collaborative innovation across disciplines, forges distinctive first-class teams, and leads major breakthroughs in original achievements. It strives to build a new highland in the field of marine economy and management research, improve the theoretical, methodological, and empirical systems of China’s marine economic development, and accelerate the construction of a disciplinary system, academic system, discourse system, and blue think tank for marine economy and management with Chinese characteristics. It gives full play to its role as a think tank and brain trust, serving the overall work of the Party and the state and the prosperity and development of philosophy and social sciences.

The Institute currently has 14 on-campus faculty members and brings together four high-level talent appointments, including National “Ten Thousand Talents Program” Leading Talents, Taishan Scholars of Shandong, and Haidai Scholars of Shandong University of Finance and Economics. Among them are 1 professor, 2 associate professors, 3 tenure-track associate professors, 3 lecturers, and 5 faculty postdoctoral fellows, forming a sound development echelon led by academic leaders, supported by young and middle-aged key members, and supplemented by postdoctoral researchers. In addition, the Institute has 13 part-time faculty members from within and outside the university, including six high-level talent appointments such as Taishan Scholars of Shandong Province and Haidai Scholars of Shandong University of Finance and Economics. It has successfully built a dual-driven talent ecosystem and disciplinary development pattern featuring “full-time + part-time” collaborative research.

The Institute has appointed Keith William Hipel, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, as an advisor, and has formed a core academic research team led by a National “Ten Thousand Talents Program” Leading Talent. The Institute, together with Ocean University of China and Liping Fang, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, jointly established a Ministry of Education “Overseas Master” (2018–2022) Teaching and Research Team. It also joined forces with relevant units within the university to establish the “Marine Economy and Management Innovation Team” (9 members), which won the Shandong Provincial Education System Model Worker and Outstanding Talent Innovation Competition Award (Yin Kedong Innovation Studio).

Faculty members of the Institute have led more than 70 national and provincial/ministerial research projects. Among them: 2 major projects and 2 key projects of the National Social Science Fund; 6 subtasks of the National Key R&D Program, National Marine Public Welfare Projects, and National 863 Program projects; 14 other projects of the National Social Science Fund and the National Natural Science Foundation; more than 20 Ministry of Education projects, National Postdoctoral Fund projects, and Shandong provincial projects; and more than 30 projects commissioned by local governments and enterprises/institutions. They have published more than 300 high-level papers in authoritative domestic and international journals such as CSSCI, CSCD, SSCI, and SCI, and more than 20 academic books. Research results have been selected for the National Achievements Library of Philosophy and Social Sciences and have won more than 50 honors, including the Special Prize for Outstanding Social Science Achievements of Shandong Province, the First Prize of the 12th National Outstanding Blue Book Report Award, and the Second Prize of the 14th National Outstanding Blue Book Award. The Institute has the landmark achievement in the field of marine economy and management at home and abroad, the Blue Book of Marine Economy: Annual Report on China’s Marine Economic Development; co-edits the international journal Marine Economics and Management; and is the chair institution of the Open Economy Professional Committee of Chinese Association of Quantitative Economics, a national second-level academic society, and the vice-chair institution of the Shandong (and Qingdao) Society of Oceanology and Limnology.

Since its establishment, the Institute has received great attention from the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and the Shandong Provincial Government. In September 2022, June 2024, November 2024, and January 2026, leaders of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and the Shandong Provincial Government visited the Institute for research and inspection, spoke highly of its achievements, and provided guidance for its future development.

May 2026