The number of companies performing seafood processing and cold-chain storage functions continues to rise in China.
As of the end of 2016, China had 9,694 registered seafood processing firms and 8,595 cold chain warehouses – an increase of 3.5 percent year-on-year, according to the China fisheries yearbook for 2017, published by the agriculture ministry in Beijing.
Like many industries in China, the sector has suffered from over-capacity and cut-throat competition amid rising labor costs. Yet there doesn’t appear to have been a major shake-out in recent years, judging by official data. There were 9,611 “licensed aquatic processing facilities” in 2011, down from 9,762 in 2010, according to the most complete data from the Ministry of Agriculture.
However anecdotal evidence from industry suggest the number of enterprises involved is nearer to 1,500 (since larger processing companies tend to have up to a dozen or more facilities), according to research by Guotai Junan and Beijing-based Zhiyan Consulting Co.
