China’s Ministry of Commerce appears to be stoking exports of tilapia by bringing delegations of fishery officials for all-expenses-paid training camps targeted at countries in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Cuba, Antigua and Barbuda, Zambia, Panama, Uruguay, and Myanmar were all represented at a recent training program in Maoming, Guangdong Province, a region known as “China’s tilapia capital.” The 30 trainees present at the training session are being skilled in feed, genetics, and pond management.
In August, a delegation of trainees from South Africa, Ghana, Cambodia, Egypt, South Sudan, Tanzania, Myanmar, The Philippines, and Uganda spent a fortnight in a similar program at Maoming’s tilapia farms. The training, which was sponsored by China’s Commerce Ministry, specifically drew attendees from countries targeted by the BRI blueprint.
The invitations are part of a strategy to pry open new markets for Chinese tilapia, according to Xiong Yan Ming said, the chairman of including Zoomlion, a construction and agricultural equipment-maker based in Hunan. Speaking at a recent ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to mark the signing of contracts between the Cambodian Ministry for Agriculture and Fishery and several Chinese firms, including Zoomlion, Xiong said companies in Guangdong are acting in response to the Chinese government initiative.
“We are responding to the BRI strategy from national and provincial government,” Xiong said.
The strategy has thus far already opened new markets, including Nepal and East Timor, for Maoming tilapia, according to a recent statement from Guangdong’s local government. Exports from Maoming to BRI countries rose 25 percent in 2018 to CNY 6.43 billion (USD 913 million, EUR 827.3 million) – of which 42 percent was composed of seafood, according to a statement from the local government’s Commerce Bureau. The report noted 69.4 percent of the total went to Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) member states.
Photo courtesy of Zoomlion
