China is projecting a large increase in both seafood imports and exports in the coming decade.
The China Agricultural Outlook 2022-2031 is projecting by 2031, China's seafood imports will surge to 7.6 million metric tons (MT), a 29 percent increase from the 5.75 million MT of seafood imported by China in 2021.
The document, published by the Chinese Agriculture Ministry’s Market Early Warning Expert Committee, also projects China’s seafood exports will increase 19.2 percent by 2031, compared to the 2021 figure.
China's seafood output increased slightly in 2021. At 66.9 million MT, it was up 2.2 percent year-on-year in 2021, with aquaculture output up 3.1 percent to 53.8 million MT and output from fishing dropping 1.5 percent to 13.05 million MT.
The country’s seafood consumption continues to recover from a downswing caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry's report found. At 68.8 million MT, consumption rose 2.3 percent year-on-year in 2021.
“The growth rate of consumption will be slightly faster than that of production,” the report noted.
The report projects an annual increase of 5 percent in average seafood prices through 2031. It attributes the increase to “tightening resource and environmental constraints and rigid growth of labor costs.”
Demand for processing has “increased rapidly,” the document noted. Overall, China processed 27.8 million MT of seafood in 2021, a rise of 4.2 percent, although the document does not clearly state whether this figure includes fish processed for fishmeal.
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