Marine and coastal ecosystems worldwide possess a rich biodiversity and play a major role in the global economy. Recently a variety of anthropogenic activities, such as coastal industrialization, maritime transport, energy production, mining, fishing, and tourism have dramatically increased the demand for marine resources and space. It has been reported that the demand for sea use exceeds three-fold the available space in some areas. Thus, many countries have attempted to utilize marine spatial planning or ocean zoning to reduce these conflicts. Marine planning is a strategic guiding program that efficiently organizes the use of marine space as well as the interactions between usages. This helps in balancing the demand for marine economic development with the protection of marine ecosystems, and aims to fulfill both social and economic objectives in an open and planned manner.In China, there has been intense conflicts on issues related to sea use and marine space, in recent years. With rapid population growth and economic development, various irrational marine development activities have adversely affected the marine environment, threatening both the environment and the future of the activities that depend on it. For example, it has been reported that the ocean and coastal economy was worth over ￥5000 billion in 2012, which contributed to 9.6% of China's total GDP. However, the most recent investigation indicated that the total area covered by coastal wetlands, mangroves, and reefs have decreased by 57%, 73%, and 80%, respectively, compared with that recorded in the 1950s. Furthermore, habitat loss and the degradation of ecosystem services also counteract the social-economic-natural ecosystem, which ultimately restricts sustainable societal and economic development. Therefore, there is an increasing urgency to adopt a more integrated approach to plan and manage the marine environment. Legislation, policy, and management tools, or a combination of these, are required in this process. Indeed, a series of marine zoning and planning schemes, such as Marine Functional Zoning, Sea Use Planning, and the Marine Socioeconomic Development Plan have been implemented by the State Oceanic Administration of China over the past 20-30 years. Marine Functional Zoning is an important scheme that came into effect in 1989. This scheme divides the sea into eight functional zones based on geographical and ecological features, natural resources, and the need for socioeconomic development. One exclusive, or several compatible sea use types, are permitted in any given functional zone. However, these marine plans are primarily based on social or economic needs (e.g., ports and fisheries). Moreover, coordination among marine plans remains inadequate. Marine ecological red line zoning is a new method employed in marine planning and protection, which will be implemented along the coast of China in the near future. However, systemic methods for marine ecological red line zoning are still lacking, and therefore, require further studies. This article provides a short historical overview and introduction to the ecological red line concept, proposes a definition and basic principles for establishing marine ecological red lines, and describes a possible zoning framework using the Hainan Province as a case study.