Niggling in the Chinese and Russian press over the quality of China’s caviar is revealing cracks beneath the veneer of political unity displayed by Beijing and Moscow in recent years.
A story on a Russian television station claiming Chinese caviar is produced in sewage. However, a top official of the Zhejiang provincial wing of China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Association (CAPPMA) called the claims false, and told one of China’s most read tabloids that Russian industry complaints over the quality of Chinese caviar is a result of jealousy among Russian producers unable to compete with the modernity and competitiveness of Chinese caviar production.
Yu Kuang Zhun, vice secretary general of the Zheijiang Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Association, said in an interview with the Global Times on 15 March that he’d been assured by (again unnamed) Russian aquaculture experts and representatives that the original story is “fake news.”
In the Global Times – which has a huge circulation in China and a very nationalistic slant – Yu pointed to the credentials of leading Chinese caviar producer Hangzhou Qian Dao Lake Xun Long Co.
“I have visited the company on numerous occasions and find their water quality and production processes are top-class,” Yu said.
Yu also hit back at claims in the Russian TV report that Chinese caviar is being dumped on the Russian market, selling at RUB 4,800 per kilo (USD 83.02, EUR 76.80), but the average price is rather RUB 8,000 (USD 138.36, EUR 128.00) according to Yu.
The spat over caviar comes after the arrest of two Chinese fishermen earlier this month on the Amur River (which flows between the two neighbors) by Russian authorities who, according to Chinese media reports, have charged the pair with illegal fishing.
In recent years, China has touted its good relations with Russia, which has seen its stature in the relationship reduced in recent decades. However, it remains an important supplier of energy and other commodities to a voracious Chinese economy.
