December 25, 2010

China's aquaculture output rises in 2010

China's aquaculture output rose 4.6% on-year in 2010 to reach 53.5 million tonnes, thanks to smooth development of the country's domestic fishing industry, said Zhao Xingwu, head of fishing industry bureau under the Ministry of Agriculture, on Thursday (Dec 23).

In the first 11 months, wholesale prices of aquatic products, cumulatively, went up 8.5% on-year, with the growth relatively steady compared with other agricultural products which have undergone sharp ups and downs this year.

Statistics from the General Administration of Customs show that China's aquatics imports and exports totaled 5.50 million tonnes in the January to October period, with the value hitting US$16.99 billion. The export volume and value reached 2.60 million tonnes and US$10.66 billion respectively in that period, up 9.2% and 25.5% over the same period of last year.

According to Zhao, China's aquatics trade has shouldered off negative effects from international financial crisis and is displaying an upward trend. He predicted the country's aquatics export value for the full year would climb 16.8% on-year to US$12.5 billion.