China's oceanic authority is setting up a network to gather basic information such as ecological status and development progress of the country's islands.

In a Wednesday circular, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) required local oceanic administrations at or above the county level to monitor islands within their jurisdictions and evaluate and release monitoring results to the public on a regular basis.

Such monitoring will target these islands and their surrounding waters, and focus on ecological status, protective efforts, utilization of resources, tourism, natural disasters and emergency situations.

Key ecological factors will include the status of endangered species, coral reefs, mangroves and seaweed beds.

The SOA and province-level oceanic departments are responsible for guiding and supervising inferior departments' monitoring work.