Clarification: An earlier version of this article contained information that may have suggested the project is underway. Pingtai Rong has clarified this project is an early preliminary concept, and no formal agreements have been made. This article has been updated to reflect the additional information.
Chinese tuna-fishing firm Pingtai Rong Ocean Fishery Co. said it has explored a project that could see it build a fishery industrial park in the Southern African nation of Angola, with a press release suggesting potential investment of CNY 520 million (USD 76.8 million, EUR 67.2 million).
Speaking recently at the Sustainable Markets Initiative China Forum in Beijing, Ni Jianbo, the chairman of Pingtai Rong Group, which is the holding company that controls the fishing firm, said the facility could play host to modernized fishing fleets in the near term and aquaculture operations in the long term if the company follows through, creating local jobs and securing long-term fishing rights, according to the press release.
Pingtai Rong did not specify whether the firm would be the sole investor in the project, nor has it disclosed the exact location it is considering.
The move aligns with stated Chinese goals to invest in port infrastructure in locations around the globe in order to provide a logistical boost for its distant-water fishing fleet.
That strategy is explicitly outlined in China’s Maritime Silk Road policy blueprint, which commits China to creating “blue economy corridors” connecting China’s eastern and southern coasts to global ports.
“China … has the potential to fill infrastructure capacity voids. Port construction and connectivity will mean investment in landings, processing, transit, and trading points for Chinese marine catch,” Chinese academic Juan He at Shanghai Jiao Tong University said last year in a research paper on the topic.
Such examples of Chinese investment underway in Africa include Chinese-led refurbishment of the Beira Fishing Port in Mozambique, with the China Export Import Bank lending USD 120 million (EUR 105.7 million) to the Mozambican government for the port. In exchange for the investment, Chinese fishing companies operate out of the port.
As for Angola, the nation has maintained a close ties with China, including collaboration in seafood projects.
In 2024, Haishan Group, a private Beijing-based construction firm, announced its involvement in the construction of a 300-hectare real estate and fishery industrial park featuring aquaculture, seafood processing, and feed production facilities
The announcement of the more recent collaboration comes just as NOAA Fisheries released a report detailing countries that engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing based on the activities of those governments from 2022 through 2024.
China was identified as engaging in IUU fishing both in the most recent report and its predecessor, while Angola was given a positive certification in the report for taking action to improve its fisheries since the previous report was conducted.
Chinese-built port infrastructure projects have drawn criticism in the past for hosting distant-water vessels with histories of IUU infractions.
