Visitors learn about submarine achievements at the 2025 East Asia Marine Expo being held in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/Dazhong News]

The 2025 East Asia Marine Expo, which showcases cutting-edge marine technology and innovation, kicked off in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, on Sept 7 and will run until Sept 9. With over 450 enterprises and institutions participating, the event features five major exhibition areas focusing on marine development achievements, biomedicine, technology equipment, international goods and an Asia-Pacific robot competition exhibition zone.

Shandong-based enterprises and institutions emerged as the stars of the expo. The marine development achievements area is highlighting Shandong's progress with over 70 representative models and exhibits.

A highlight was the marine engineering technology display led by a team from Ocean University of China. Their self-developed intelligent robot for wind turbine inspection attracted attention for its ability to climb and inspect wind turbine towers, reducing safety risks and enhancing maintenance efficiency.

A marine biomedicine area was included for the first time, featuring 85 leading enterprises and institutions. This zone showcased the full spectrum of marine biomedicine, from raw materials to final products.

One standout was Function (Qingdao) Marine Technology, which unveiled new marine peptide research results in collaboration with China Pharmaceutical University during the event's opening ceremony, which attracted many exhibitors.