The State Oceanic Administration (SOA) has announced nine new state-level marine parks, bringing the total number of such parks in China to 42.
中国国家海洋局日前公布了九个新的国家级海洋公园，这就使得这样的公园的总数达到了42个。
The new parks are located in the provinces of Liaoning, Shandong, Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan, according to an SOA circular.
根据国家海洋局发布的通知显示，这些新的公园分布于辽宁、山东、福建、广东、海南等省份。
The SOA has ordered local marine authorities in these provinces to start demarcating the parks, and not to arbitrarily adjust or change the parks' boundaries and zoning.
国家海洋局已下令地方海事局在这些省份开始划定公园范围，不得随意调整或改变公园的界限和分区。

The SOA has stressed the need to improve protection of the marine environment when tourism and aquaculture activities are conducted in certain zones of the parks.
国家海洋局强调，在公园某些区域开展旅游、生态养殖等活动的同时，还需要加强海洋环境的保护。
China's state-level marine parks, first introduced in 2011, offer public space for coastal recreation, enhance protection of marine ecosystems and boost sustainable development of coastal tourism, an SOA official said.
国家海洋局一位官员表示，于2011年首次推出的中国国家级海洋公园，为滨海休闲提供了公共空间，加强了海洋生态系统的保护，并促进了滨海旅游业的可持续发展。