China key for foreign aquatic firms

China has become an increasingly important market for overseas aquatic products, which presents excellent opportunities for establishing partnerships, according to foreign exhibitors at a high-profile trade show held in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, which concluded on Monday.

Ecuador exported 24,817 metric tons of shrimp directly to China last year, up 33 percent year-on-year, said Paul Penaherrera, commercial consul with the consulate general of Ecuador in Guangzhou.

In 2015, China accounted for 45 percent of all Ecuadorian shrimp exports, with the proportion expected to climb to 50 percent this year.

The consulate arranged for four of Ecuador's largest shrimp exporting companies to attend the three-day 2016 China International Aquatic Products Exposition.

"They are all exporting to China. But they know the potential and want to grow. They know Zhanjiang is one of the important cities in the aquaculture industry.

"The Chinese market knows more and more about Ecuadorian shrimp. They know the quality and the production technique that we use. They are importing more each year," Penaherrera said.

Sandro Coglitore, representative of Ecuadorian shrimp company Omarsa, said: "China is growing every year. In the next year, China will be our principle market for exports. With more money, they are looking for higher value products."

The company shipped 20 containers per month to China last year, representing growth of roughly 15 percent, year-on-year.

On his first trip to the expo, which also included visits to local farms and factories, Coglitore said: "You see a little bit closer in the region. Zhanjiang is a very important hub for the production of shrimps in China and also for the processing industry.

"Local companies are competitors at certain times of the year when they produce, but then at other times, they might need some of the raw materials we can supply to them. We can be partners with the local industry."

Dubbed China's "capital of shrimps", Zhanjiang supplies about 15 percent of the world's shrimp market and 67 percent of the domestic market, also taking a significant position in tilapia production and offering a wide range of other aquatic products.

The city is transforming and upgrading its aquatic sector, aiming to become a major global aquatic processing base and trade hub, said Cen Jian, secretary-general of Zhanjiang Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance.

Both the aquatic products expo in the city and the one in Qingdao, Shandong province, have become major trade shows for the industry in China.

China imported 4.08 million tons of aquatic products and exported 4.06 million tons last year, according to statistics from customs authorities.

Johan Suryadarma, executive of the Indonesian Fishery Product Processing & Marketing Association, arranged for 11 Indonesian exhibitors, including related government agencies and aquaculture companies, to attend the expo in Zhanjiang.

"The US and the EU have been our major markets. China has been a large exporter but imports have become very large," he said.

Suryadarma has been promoting exports to China and educating exporters about the stricter Chinese coding and labeling requirements on such imports.

Hengki Ang, with PT SK Foods Indonesia, said his company is exporting shrimp products to Japan, the United States and Europe and is looking for a new market in China.

With its headquarters in Panama and a shrimp hatchery in Thailand, Farallon Aquaculture (Thailand) Co has begun to test the market and will soon initiate a full-scale introduction of its products with some key local players, said marketing director Luis Carlos Stoute.

"The Zhanjiang expo is, for us, an opportunity to let the China market get to know us, and establish some key strategic relationships to propel our growth in the market," Stoute said.

liwenfang@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/21/2016 page15)