A delegation from Pakistan’s coastal province of Baluchistan visited some of China’s leading distant-water fishery firms recently in what could signal a new Chinese presence on the Arabian Sea.
Hosted by the local government in Fuzhou, which posted a statement announcing the visit, the delegation visited Fuzhou Hong Dong Yuan Yang Fishing Co and the offices of Ri Sheng Hai Yang Ocean Resources Development Co.
Often regarding as Pakistan’s least-developed province, Baluchistan is the focus of a huge Chinese investment program, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, which would see USD 45 billion (EUR 39.7 billion) in Chinese financed roads connecting western China to a port and manufacturing zone at Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. Baluchistan covers 477 miles of the 682-mile-long Pakistani coastline and the province exports large volumes of low-value seafood to China and the Middle East.
Fuzhou Hong Dong claims it runs China’s largest overseas fishery base, located in Mauritania, from which it is shipping 2,500 tons of fish per week to the E.U. and U.S. The CEO of Fuzhou Hong Dong Yuan Yang Fishing Co, Chen Zhengjie, recently told Fujian provincial TV recently his firm plans further international expansion.
Ri Sheng Hai Yang Ocean Resources Development Co., meanwhile, has a joint venture with the Mauritanian government based in a free trade zone in Nouadhibou. Ri Sheng (it also uses the English name Sunrise) cans Spanish mackerel, bonito, and mullet.
