A seafood fair is seeking to usurp the annual trade fair in Dalian/Qingdao as China’s top seafood fair.
Organizers of the Zhanjiang 2017 International Seafood Fair, set for 18 June, 2017, have been touring provincial capitals to encourage participation in the fair in the southern city of Zhanjiang, which is a hub of China’s shrimp production (and hometown of Guolian Aquatic). It’s also increasingly also a trading hub for seafood trucked in from Southeast Asia.
Recently in Kunming and in Changsha to recruit exhibitors, Yu Guang Wen, head of the Zhanjiang Seafood Chamber of Commerce, pointed to the boom in Chinese seafood consumption and his city’s proximity to the country’s wealthy southern markets. Yu also pointed to the participation of industry trade body China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Association (CAPPMA) in the show.
More than 500 companies are set to show their wares next month at the Beijing Fisheries Expo, which promises to “brand,” internationalize and professionalize the sector. The expo is co-organized by CAPPMA, which also backs the annual show in Qingdao – clearly now facing an onslaught from various cities that see seafood as an increasingly lucrative sector.
CAPPMA is also helping organize yet another show – the Pacific Aquaculture Expo in Fuzhou – also in June. Chinese trade fairs tend to emphasize quantity over quality, with large groups of exhibitors and regional pavilions often pressganged by local government to exhibit.
