The Kuroshio subsurface waters upwell onto the East China Sea (ECS) shelf and contribute a large amount of nutrients to the ECS. This contribution is many times more than the inputs from the Yangtze and the Yellow Rivers. The residence time of the ECS shelf water is estimated at 1.3 +/- 0.4 years. The new production rate of phytoplankton is 73 +/- 22 mg C/m(2)/day and the net burial rate of organic carbon is 41 +/- 23 mg C/m(2)/day.