China’s demand for salmon shows no sign of letting up, with import numbers from China’s largest airport showing just how big the trend has gotten.
Beijing Airport handled 4,327 tons of salmon in 2016, a massive 24 times the 2015 figure. Announcing the figure, Feng Qian, head of fresh food at the Beijing office of the China’s Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), said that imports of meat into the city in 2016 increased 11-fold, to 9,482 tons.
Salmon import figures are expected to surge even more in 2017, given the patching up of Sino-Norwegian relations in late 2016, ensuring easier access for Norwegian salmon into Beijing.
However, the numbers will be dampened somewhat if China continues to allow regional cities to handle more customs procedures for imports of fresh food and seafood – something it only began allowing recently.
