ABSTRACT
An accurate grasp of the high-quality development of the marine economy is important for the timely adjustment of marine policies and the promotion of sustainable development of the ocean. Based on the latest development philosophy, this paper constructed the evaluation index system of high-quality development of marine economy from five dimensions including innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and support vector machine (SVM) model based on the entropy weight composite index were employed to evaluate the high-quality development of China’s marine economy from 2006 to 2017. The spatial and temporal distribution characteristics and dynamic evolution mechanism were revealed. The random forest model was applied to analyze the main driving factors of high-quality development of the marine economy. It was found that: (1) The high-quality development level of marine economy in Guangdong, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai has always been in the forefront. The growth rate of high-quality development level of marine economy in Guangdong and Shandong was 53.69% and 37.69%, respectively. The growth rates of Fujian and Hainan were 43.46% and 33.68%, respectively. Jiangsu and Zhejiang accounted for 33.30% and 24.47%, respectively. (2) The regulation methods of the main driving factors were examined. It was necessary to adhere to innovative development and improve the marine scientific research, education, management, and service industry, in addition by optimizing and adjusting the marine industrial infrastructure and spatial layout. It is also critical to strengthen the comprehensive prevention and control of land and sea pollution and implement the total emission control of pollutants into the sea. (3) Finally, the pathway for high-quality development of marine economy was analyzed and future directions were proposed.