February 15, 2021

China's Haisheng Group ventures into aquaculture production

Haisheng Group, China's leading vendor of fruit and vegetables, is venturing into salmon and shrimp aquaculture.

The company is looking at investing ¥5 billion to ¥10 billion (US$800 million to US$1.6 billion) in 15 to 20 aquaculture facilities across China by 2030, Haisheng told SeafoodSource.

Following detailed research into potential locations around the country, Haisheng has settled on the provinces of Gansu, Guangxi, Hubei, Ningxia and its home base of Shaanxi. It's also planning to build a salmon farm with a projected annual output of 5,000 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes in the Bole region of Xinjiang Province, a region in China's far west, bordering central Asia.

Additionally, the firm is looking at installing a ¥360 million (US$54 million) salmon project in Qinghai province at the foothills of the Himalayas with a projected annual output of 5,000 tonnes.

One of Haisheng's shrimp projects will be located in the semi-tropical region of Guangxi, near the Vietnamese border, where the company will invest ¥160 million (US$25.6 million) in a project with an annual capacity of 2,000 tonnes.

Haisheng aims to use recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for its shrimp and salmon production "but in shrimp, we consider the RAS and ponds mode, because [using] only RAS system will be very expensive and not profitable," company spokesperson Simon Li told SeafoodSource.

Li said the firm has the resources and network to make a successful venture in aquaculture.

- SeafoodSource