Monitoring of oceanic water quality at 293 offshore monitoring stations indicated that oceanic water met the national quality standard of Grade I and II in 67.3 percent of the stations, up 17.7 percentage points from the previous year; water at 8.9 percent of the stations met Grade III standard, down 6.5 percentage points; and water with Grade IV or inferior quality was found in 23.8 percent of the stations, down 11 percentage points. A total of 139,000 square km of water did not meet the quality standard for clean oceanic water, down 17.8 percent. Of this total, seriously polluted oceanic area occupied 29,000 square km. Monitoring of 18 marine ecology zones showed that major thalassic, estuarine and wetland ecosystems were all in quasi-healthy or unhealthy conditions.

Bohai Sea Pollution in the sea remained severe. The area where water failed to meet the quality standard for clean oceanic water came to 20,000 square km, making up 26 percent of Bohai's total acreage. Marine areas where water quality fell into categories of severe pollution, medium pollution, less pollution and relatively good quality were 2,000 square km, 3,000 square km, 6,000 square km and 9,000 square km, respectively. The most heavily polluted areas were mainly concentrated in the Bohai Bay, the Laizhou Bay and coast of the Liaodong Bay, with major pollutants being inorganic nitrogen, phosphate and lead. Experts attribute Bohai's pollution mainly to the inflow of a large amount of pollutants from land and poor water cycle in the sea.

Yellow Sea The area where water failed to meet the quality standard for clean oceanic water totaled 43,000 square km. Marine areas where water quality fell into categories of severe pollution, medium pollution, less pollution and relatively good quality accounted for 3,000 square km, 4,000 square km, 14,000 square km and 22,000 square km, respectively. The most heavily polluted areas were mainly concentrated in the estuary of the Yalujiang River, the Jiaozhou Bay and coast of Jiangsu Province, with major pollutants being inorganic nitrogen and phosphate.

East China Sea The area where water failed to meet the quality standard for clean oceanic water spanned across 65,000 square km. Marine areas where water quality fell into categories of severe pollution, medium pollution, less pollution and relatively good quality were 23,000 square km, 11,000 square km, 10,000 square km and 21,000 square km, respectively. The most heavily polluted areas were mainly concentrated in the estuary of the Yangtze River, the Hangzhou Bay and coast of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province, with major pollutants being inorganic nitrogen and phosphate. Pollutants transported by the Yangtze runoff, as well as industrial and agricultural waste discharges in coastal areas, are believed to cause the pollution in the East China Sea.

South China Sea The area where water failed to meet the quality standard for clean oceanic water came to 11,000 square km. Marine areas where water quality fell into categories of severe pollution, medium pollution, less pollution and relatively good quality were 1,000 square km, 500 square km, 3,000 square km and 6,000 square km, respectively. Major pollutants were inorganic nitrogen, phosphate and lead. The most heavily polluted areas were mainly concentrated in the estuary of the Pearl River, coast of Shantou in Guangdong Province and Zhanjiang Port.