February 4, 2010

China to build world's largest shrimp trading centre

China's Ministry of Agriculture has invested RMB800 million (US$117 million) on a Seafood Agricultural Centre to be built in Zhanjiang City that may become a platform for the global shrimp industry.

It will be the world's largest shrimp product trading centre with 10 tonnes-worth of cold storage plus logistics and information centres.

At the ceremony signalling the beginning of construction, Zhanjiang Municipal Party Committee Secretary Chan Yiu-kwong said he hopes the centre will be completed by September.

The comprehensive shrimp industry cluster will meet the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Union's (EU) international seafood standards.

The Seafood Agricultural Centre is designed to be the world's largest distribution centre for raw shrimp. It will integrate existing Zhanjiang City-based businesses and include updated intensive, mechanised and automated assembly line processing.

The centre will also include an area for cooked shrimp processing to support the government's urban redevelopment projects, integrating, guiding and boosting operations that are currently scattered.