National Maritime Museum

In 2010, with approval from the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission officially approved the founding of National Maritime Museum in Tianjin. This indicates a new achievement of Tianjin in the implementation of major cultural industry promotion strategy and the construction of a cultural city.

On March 31, 2015, construction of the National Maritime Museum started. The main part is planned to be completed by the end of 2016, and the museum will be put in trial operation in May 2017. National Maritime Museum is located in Sino-Singapore Eco-City, adjacent to the South Bay under plan. With an investment of 2 billion CNY, the museum is built in the Maritime Culture Park, which covers 1 km2. The planned area for the museum is 15 hectares, with a building area of 80,000 square meters .

Through three years’ hard work, the museum has collected 48,000 items, including 40,000 obtained through donations. According to the exhibition design, the adequacy ratio of collections has reached around 70%. Constructed jointly by Tianjin Municipality and the State Oceanic Administration, National Maritime Museum will operate under the management of Tianjin Municipality. The National Maritime Museum is the first state-level comprehensive non-profit maritime museum in China. Upon completion, it will display the natural and humanistic history of the ocean, and serve as a base for patriotic education, a platform for the exchanges of maritime technology, and an indicative facility of maritime culture. It will fulfill a wide range of functions: collection and protection, display and education, exchanges and dissemination, tourism and sightseeing. This project is a milestone in the maritime development of China, bringing an end to the history that there was no maritime museum up to China’s international status.

As the first state-level museum in Tianjin, the National Maritime Museum will greatly enhance the cultural status of Tianjin, increase its fame in the world, and boost the accelerated development of culture, tourism, trade, commerce, transport and relevant services in Tianjin City and Binhai New Area.