China’s top seafood exporting province has set up a CNY 1 billion (USD 147 million, EUR 131 million) fund to further enlarge the local offshore fishing industry.
Fujian Province has announced that the provincial Ocean and Fisheries Bureau, alongside the Fujian Investment Fund, the Fujian-based Straits Bank and Xiamen Jingdao Industrial Investment Management Co., are all listed as investors in the Fujian Ocean Fishing Development Fund. The fund aims to ultimately raise CNY 10 billion (USD 1.5 billion, EUR 1.3 billion) for investment in “modernizing and upgrading” the provincial and national “offshore fleet and related industries and services.”
The fund is being managed by the newly established Fujian Jing Dao Tian Xing Equity Investment Partnership. Several major fishing companies operate out of Fujian ports like Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Xiamen. The provincial fleet is distinctive for the number of private companies involved compared to other parts of China, where the industry is dominated by state-owned giants.
