China is placing investments in aquaculture abroad
China is planning a series of investments in aquaculture sector abroad as part of its economic strategy included in “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) program.
The “Tropical Countries Aquaculture Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Group” is going to be the tool used by the Chinese authorities in this operation, reports Seafood Source magazine.
South East Asia and Africa are seen as regions with a potential for seawater cage aquaculture systems producing species like yellow croaker, grouper, cobia, and silver pomfret, according to Guan Chang Tao, the chief scientist for mariculture at the Fisheries Academy.
Following a model that led to investments totalling $180 billion (€155 billion) in overseas agriculture and fisheries across 140 countries up to 2016, mostly in beef and soybean production, the Chinese seafood sector could increase its financial support in businesses abroad.
"We want to reduce the impact of aquaculture on our environment, hence we want to do more offshore", explained Rokhmin Dahuri, an Indonesian Aquaculture Association representative, present at a conference in Fuzhou, China. Chinese investment could also be steered toward aquaculture in aquaculture powerhouses like Norway. "Salmon’s a great investment opportunity", mentioned Rude Nielsen, a Norwegian banker present at the same event. Even if Norway has enough financial resources from Western partners in developing new salmon farms, a Chinese investment in distribution and marketing side of a Sino-foreign salmon venture would make sense, as the Asian country is about to become the world’s top consumer of the product.
China's seafood production stands now at 65 million tons but is expected to drop at 60 million tons in 2020, according to a government plan to improve quality and focus less on quantity and that means that the country has to find new seafood sources elsewhere.
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