China seafood exports increase

China, the world's largest seafood exporter, saw a jump in its frozen finfish and shrimp exports in January, despite the global economic slump, according to China's Customs Administration.
 
China exported 110,000 metric tons of frozen fish valued at USD 337.6 million (EUR 248.4 million) in January, down 1.4 percent in volume but up 2.7 percent in value year-on-year.
 
The country's frozen shrimp exports totaled 5,255 metric tons valued at USD 30.2 million (EUR 22.2 million) in January, a gain of 28.1 percent in volume and 68.6 percent in value year-on-year.
 
In 2008, seafood exports made up of more than one-quarter of China's total agriculture and aquaculture exports. And close to 3 million metric tons of seafood were exported from China in 2008, totaling more than USD 10 billion (EUR 7.4 billion).
 
Ministry of Agriculture officials have warned that 2009 will be a tough year for the seafood industry as a result of the global financial crisis.
 
China has battled a slew of food-safety issues in recent months. Since then, the government has taken further steps to streamline food-safety inspections in the country by overseeing more than 500,000 food processing companies, including seafood processing plants.

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