Ever-worsening (36)______ in China’s coastal waters will hinder (37)______ o

Ever-worsening pollution in China’s coastal waters will hinder exploration of marine resources, warns an article in Outlook Weekly. China has an 18,000-kilometer coastline, more than 6,500 islands and nearly 3 million square kilometers of blue territory." A large portion of the abundant marine resources has yet to be tapped. China’s annual marine output accounts for less than 2 percent of the world’s marine output.
    China, however, has one of the world’s most seriously deteriorated marine ecosystems, which restricts development of marine industries.
    The area of unclean sea waters in China in 2001 was about 173,390 square kilometers down slightly from the previous year, but the area of seriously contaminated waters increased by 4, 000 square kilometer, the State Oceanic Administration reported.
    Most of the heavily polluted waters are close to highly populated, industrial cities in China’s coastal regions.