According to local records, Zhelin's maritime trade began in Sui Dynasty and flourished in Song Dynasty. Due to its superior geographical location, wide waters and stable water flow in the bay, surrounded by barriers such as Qitou Mountain and Matou Mountain, Zhelin has become a natural shelter and an ideal anchorage for ships, and it has also become a cargo distribution center from south to north, and local trade is prosperous. "Guangdong Tongzhi" wrote: "Zhelin is the gateway to South Australia's sea lanes, and all Fujian ships enter Australia from here." According to Gu Zuyu's "Yu Fang Minutes Raoping Peak" in Ming Dynasty, "Zhelin 'ao is in the south, and Siam, Japan and Haikou are all moored here. "Chaozhou Business Chronicle" also records: "Shipping is booming, such as Zhelin ... while other places are ports for going abroad. Huge ships sail around the sea, transporting local goods to Guangzhou, Fujian, Zhejiang or as far away as Nanyang and Japan, and then reselling foreign goods. "It's a pity that in the early Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the implementation of the maritime ban, Zhelin Port was once depressed. Zhelin Town is surrounded by the sea on three sides, with cultivated land area of 1889 mu and forestland area of 7659 mu. Historically, it was a big fishing town in Raoping, mainly fishing for salt. It was once one of the four salt fields in Raoping. After the reform and opening up, due to the impact of the market economy, most salt fields were changed into fish ponds, and the salt industry was on the verge of extinction.
Zhelin Town is a big town of fishery production, with a main labor force of more than 9,900 people, including more than 8,000 people engaged in fishery production. At present, there are more than 20,000 mariculture cages in the town, covering an area of more than 2,300 mu, shellfish culture beach 1.500 mu, prawn culture area 1.360 mu and abalone culture water body 2 1.500 cubic meters. There are 8 seedling farms, which can raise more than 55 million seedlings every year; More than 60 fishing boats; The total annual fishery output of the town is more than 1 0.5 million tons, and the output value is nearly1100 million yuan. Daxiaomen breeding base is one of the largest cage breeding bases in Guangdong Province. The main breeding species are grouper, snapper, bonito, perch and red snapper.
Zhelin Town is a "national sea area management demonstration zone", "one of the largest marine cage culture bases in the province" and "high-tech storm-resistant deep-water cage culture demonstration zone in eastern Guangdong", which is rich in fishery resources. Zhelin Fishing Port is one of the top ten fishing ports in Guangdong Province and a designated trade port for Taiwan. Fishing port trade is very active, and fishery economy is the main economic pillar of Zhelin. Zhelin Town is a coastal town with an early development in human history and is rich in tourism resources. There are two natural baths, Golden Lion Bay and Huiyun, and the "Qixi Well" hot spring bath to be developed. There are natural landscapes such as Zhenfeng Pagoda, Baique Temple and Western Australia Island, and the tourism development prospect is very broad.