China continues to reach out to developing countries for cooperation on aquaculture with the launch of a “high-level fisheries research group” that has been visiting seawater coastal and offshore aquaculture sites on China’s east coast.
Fisheries officials, researchers and academics from Senegal, Tonga, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, and Chile have all been participating in the workshops which are exploring shrimp as well as oyster, bream, and jellyfish production and processing according to a statement from Shanghai Ocean University, which is coordinating the program.
The research program is being organized as part of China’s "One Belt, One Road" blueprint aimed to integrate regional and strategic maritime states into China’s economy through the building of infrastructure. Participants in the current program are taking advice on feed use and disease control as well as facilities management.
China has placed increasing emphasis on expanding its economic and diplomatic influence in recent years, expanding access to resources as well as markets for its products. Meanwhile, China earlier this year set up its first government-run international aid agency, the China International Development Cooperation Agency, which is a USAID-style organization designed to offer Chinese materiel and know-how to developing states.
