December 27, 2005

Value of China's 2005 seafood exports to reach US$8 billion
 

The value of China's seafood exports this year is expected to reach US$8 billion, accounting for 30 percent of the total value of the country's agricultural product exports, the official Farmer's Daily reported Tuesday.

China has been the world's biggest exporter of seafood products by value since 2002, accounting for about 10 percent of the world's total.

Seafood products have been China's top export commodity for six years, with the average export growth rate remaining above 16 percent since 2000.

Last year, China's output of seafood products reached 51 million tonnes, compared with 42.79 million tonnes in 2000.

The achievement is attributed to the rapid growth of the processing industry, while at the same time, the volume of fish catches remained negative, the report said.

From 2001 to 2005, more than 80,000 fishermen have been recruited by the processing industry, while the average annual income of fishermen would reach RMB5,656 this year.

China has invested RMB4.55 billion in the fisheries industry in the past five years, mainly on species development, protection of fishing resources and disease prevention.

In the past five years, fishing has been banned in more sea areas during certain periods of the year, including the South China Sea and the entire Yangtze River valley.