One of China’s key aquaculture regions and a center of the country’s distant-water fishing industry is the location of the newly opened China-Pacific Island Countries Poverty Alleviation and Development Cooperation Center.
The new center was opened 20 July, 2022, in Fuzhou – capital of Fujian province and also home base of several fishing firms, including Pingtan Marine and Fuzhou Hongdong Pelagic Fishery Co.
A phalanx of Chinese officials was joined at the opening ceremony by deputy speaker of Fiji’s parliament, Veena Kumar Bhatnagar, as well as diplomats from the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu.
At the opening ceremony, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Feng described Fujian province as the birthplace of the Austronesian language family with “geographical proximity, cultural affinity, and complementary development advantages with Pacific Islands.” He also pointed to the role of China’s current president, Xi Jinping, in developing relations with Papua New Guinea when he was governor of Fujian province in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Chinese enterprises have sought logging and mineral extraction opportunities in Papua New Guinea and other island nations in the Pacific. China has also extended aid and backing for infrastructure development to island states, with numerous Chinese construction firms active in the region on projects backed by loans from Chinese state lenders.
Separately, in Shandong province, a new entity set up by China to deepen ties with Caribbean islands has been delivering aquaculture-related training. The China-Caribbean Development Center is currently running an online training program acquainting Guyanese fisheries officials with best practices developed by Chinese experts in marine cage aquaculture.
Photo courtesy of National Rural Development Bureau
