China’s squeezed freshwater sector taps Thailand for help with processing

China has tapped several hundred Thai experts to help it improve processing of its freshwater fish and crustaceans.

Some 300 delegates to the fourth Largescale Freshwater Processing Forum gathered earlier this month at the Huazhong University, a prestigious agricultural university in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

“Innovation” and “sustainability” were the two key themes for officials and executives in attendance. The conference focused on solutions for developing higher value products, increasing production of freshwater crabs in inland provinces, and China’s catfish and tilapia output, which is suffering from weaker export demand.

Chinese fisheries officials have struggled to tap rising domestic demand for proteins, with many blaming a lack of national brands –a subject Thai firms like Thai Union may be able to advise on.

The forum also looked into Chinese carp production, a sector that has been under pressure to get better prices as competition for land and water resources has intensified – particularly from producers of higher value proteins like beef, lamb and high-end pork and poultry.

And it examined into the opportunities arising from China’s massive crackdown on farmyard pollution, particularly in Beijing’s large agricultural suburbs. The district of Huairou, long a breadbasket for the capital, is closing 47 large pig, cattle and poultry farms and inviting producers of sturgeon and shrimp to set up, according to the district government’s website.

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