@article{article_1747243, title={The role of trade and foreign investment in China’s blue economy: An ecological perspective on the fishing grounds footprint}, journal={Ege Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences}, volume={42}, pages={287–297}, year={2025}, DOI={10.12714/egejfas.42.4.02}, url={https://izlik.org/JA26DK56HB}, author={Özbek, Sefa and Turgut, Muhammed}, keywords={Fishing grounds footprint, fisheries production, ecological sustainability, economic growth, China}, abstract={China’s rise in the maritime sector is notable on a global scale. China, which attaches great importance to developments in the blue economy as a national goal, is a world leader in aquaculture production. Developments in the blue economy are crucial for economic growth and the sustainability of international trade. Determining China’s fishing grounds footprint, a subcomponent of its ecological footprint, is of critical importance for China, which has a significant trade volume in aquaculture production. In this context, the determinants of the fishing area footprint are being investigated in the Chinese economy. The relationship between the fishing grounds footprint and fishing production, trade globalization, foreign direct investment, and economic growth is investigated for the period 1980-2022. The A-ARDL method is chosen as the empirical method in the study, and cointegration estimators with various power characteristics are utilized. In this context, the FMOLS and CCr estimators are used. The DOLS estimator is used for robustness testing. According to the empirical results, the FMOLS, CCR, and DOLS (robustness) estimation results are consistent with each other. The results indicate that while increases in fishery production and trade globalization have contributed to a rise in the fishing footprint, economic growth appears to have had a mitigating effect, potentially due to increased efficiency, technological advancements, or sectoral shifts in the Chinese economy. These results offer important insights into development models that support sustainable development goals in China’s marine sector.}, number={4}