A major Chinese fisheries region is looking to the Pacific islands as an engine of growth for its own fisheries and tourism sectors.
Located in the South China Sea, the southern Chinese island province of Hainan played host to delegations from several Pacific Island nations, including Vanuatu, in early July, to discuss jointly developing fisheries tourism.
The two-day conference meeting resulted in the signing of an “international fishery tourism cooperation demonstration zone” that will “train talent for the leisure fisheries industry,” according to a statement from the organizers. Also during the event, the South Pacific Island Nation Association and Da Zhou Island (Hainan) Line Fishing Industry Co. signed the “China (Hainan Tax-Free) South Pacific Island Nations Fishery Cooperation Center” project.
A statement from the organizers said the meeting in Hainan was structured around the development of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the development of the marine industry and recreational fishing industry between China and Vanuatu.
“The Chinese and Vanuatu sides want to jointly develop the ocean industry and leisure fishing industry,” the statement said.
Hainan, which has also been granted tax-free zone status by central government, has been developed as a tropical tourist island that is often referred to by state media as China’s Hawaii, but China’s zero-COVID policy has effectively grounded the nation’s formerly huge outbound tourist trade for more than two years.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently led a 20-strong delegation on a tour of seven of the countries China hopes will endorse the Common Development Vision, a document drafted by the Chinese government that would see China offering technology, training, infrastructure, security advice, and cultural exchanges to the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea.
The regional governments of China’s three top fisheries provinces – Fujian, Guangdong, and Shandong – have all targeted increased cooperation with the Pacific islands. In November 2020, Fujian Zhonghong Fishery Co. signed a memorandum with the of Papua New Guinea and the Western Province on building a “Comprehensive Multifunctional Fishery Industrial Park” on Daru Island in Western Province.
More recently, increasing Chinese activity in the Pacific has drawn the attention of the Australian and U.S. governments.
Photo courtesy of Tetyana Dotsenko/Shutterstock
