Marine scientific research is highly valued as an important research field in China and scientific journals are important conveyors of research findings that play an important role in scientific communication and exchange. In this paper, we investigate a selection of 10 major Chinese journals of oceanography. Based on a series of evaluation indicators, including the number of articles published, the citation frequency, the aging rate of the journal, the overall performance of the comprehensive index, and the journal rankings and influence scores in the subject, we used statistical data from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Chinese Science Citation Database (CSCD) to analyze the performance of each periodical in detail to develop a better understanding of the current status of marine academic journals in China, and thereby provide more objective data to enhance the future influence of these journals. The results showed that Acta Oceanologica Sinica, Oceanologia et Limnologia Sinica, Marine Geology, and Quaternary Geology and Marine Science ranked as top indicators and excellent representative journals in this field. However, there are a number of deficiencies to address, including the overall slow development of the journals, the considerable fluctuation of the impact factor, and the immediacy index. Thus, marine journals in China, as well as the entire range of China's professional journals, must overcome the constraints of the existing scientific research system, improve the quality of publications to ensure high quality papers, and facilitate China's marine publications to reach international-level standards in the near future.