BEIJING - China on Friday officially concluded an eight-year-long national marine survey, giving the country a true picture of its coastal water resources.

Launched by the State Oceanic Administration from 2004, the government-funded coastal waters survey shows China has a total of 19,057 km of continental coastline and 10,312 sea islands, of them 569 are inhabited.

Nearly 90 percent of China's coastal cities are suffering from water shortages at differing levels, according to the project. Of the surveyed 52 coastal cities in 11 provinces, 28 have serious or extremely serious shortages of water.

Entitled "Comprehensive Survey and Assessment on Coastal Waters," the project has been China's largest marine survey since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.