Since 1977, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of the People's Republic of China have been organizing annual study tours, for the purpose of training rural technicians from developing countries. Following the mission to China in 1976 by four FAO officers to study fishing and aquaculture in China's inland waters, it was recommended that FAO encourage “the use of Chinese expertise and experience …” by means of “study tours for inland fishery administrators and planners, to provide them with new (or different) perspectives on their own problems” (Tapiador, et al., 1977).
A first study tour on the development of aquaculture, for English-speaking African and Asian technicians was held in 1978 (ADCP, 1979). A second, on the same subject, was then organized for French-speaking African technicians. The tour left from Paris on 22 April and returned on 20 May 1980. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provided financial assistance on the basis of regional project No. RAF/79/071. This report is based on the data collected during that tour.
Since aquaculture is one of the fields in which China has made considerable strides, interest was growing as to how it was organized and what technology was used, as well as to the possibilities of transferring them to other countries. The purpose of this study tour was therefore to give high-level African technicians the opportunity of observing the development of aquaculture in Chinese inland waters, the strategy practised, the methods used for drawing up policies and programmes, as well as the order of priorities accorded to them and their implementation. The members of the tour also had the opportunity of observing the principles on which development in these fields is based, how closely they are linked with agricultural expansion in general, and with integrated rural development in particular, as well as the organizational aspects of the overall development of production of aquatic products. They were also able to appreciate the facilities available to China for aquacultural research and training.
The group of 18 (Appendix 1; Figures 1 and 2)1 arrived in Beijing on 23 April 1980 from Paris, led by the FAO/Africa Team Leader, Dr W.Q.-B. West, Regional Fisheries Officer for Africa. The FAO/HQ Team Leader joined the group the same day and took over leadership. Mr R. Li, Chief of the International Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs at the National Bureau of Aquatic Products and two interpreters took charge of the group on behalf of the Chinese Government. They were with the group during all their visits across the country.
When the tour was being prepared, FAO had indicated in advance the aquacultural activities which would be of particular interest to the group. Upon arrival of the group, the host government proposed a programme which included these suggestions and it was immediately accepted (Appendix 2). This programme enabled the group to visit several people's communes, production brigades and teams, as well as institutions which were distinguished in their respective fields. They clearly showed what could be achieved under conditions prevailing in China, but also allowed the group to assess whether it would be possible to transfer the Chinese experience to the participating African countries. The provinces of Guangdong, Hubei, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, as well as the Municipalities of Beijing and Shanghai (Figures 3 and 4) were visited.
Figure 1 The members of the study tour and their hosts at API, Shanghai
Figure 2 Visit by the study group to an ancient Buddhist temple, Guangdong
Figure 3 General administrative map of China and the itinerary of the study tour
Figure 4a Location of the main installations visited in the Guangdong province
Figure 4b Location of main installations visited in the province of Hubei
Figure 4c Location of the main installations visited in the Shanghai Shi and the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang
The main aquacultural activities studied by the group were the following: state fish farms; fish farms run by people's communes, production brigades and teams, integrated production of fish, fish products and brood animals; extensive fish culture in lakes, reservoirs, channels and rivers; semi-intensive fish culture in ponds; intensive fish culture in concrete ponds; cage-farming; fish culture and hydrobiological research; large-scale egg, larvae and fry production; distribution and marketing of freshwater fish.
In most of the places visited, the technicians in charge, first gave a brief account of the conditions in which aquaculture had developed, the gradual increases in fish production and the means used to obtain them. This was followed by a guided tour of the installations and often included practical demonstrations (Figure 5). This gave rise to discussions, which continued later during question and answer sessions (Figures 6 and 10). This allowed the participants to obtain a lot of information, both in terms of quantity, as well as quality, on which this report is based.
Figure 5 Visit to the fish culture installations of the Hengjiang fry centre, Xinhui district, Guangdong
Figure 6 Detailed briefing and general discussion with the technical officers of the People's Commune of Hele, Jiangsu
On several occasions, our hosts expressed interest in finding out about the fish culture techniques used in other countries. Two information sessions were held to provide this information. During these sessions, the technicians from the Institute of Aquatic Products of Shanghai and those from the Hele People's Commune (near Wuxi, Jiangsu) had the opportunity of listening to and taking part in discussions on papers presented by participants on subjects related to African fish culture. Slides were shown and commented upon by the FAO/HQ Team Leader. FAO technical papers on various aquacultural subjects were either distributed at the end of visits, or given to the National Bureau of Aquatic Products at Beijing. After the tour, further documentation was sent by FAO, Rome.
The People's Republic of China, which is the third largest country in the world in terms of land area (approximately 9.6 million square kilometres) exhibits an extreme variety of topographical features and climatic zones. The northern and eastern edges of the western high plateaux of Xizang (Tibet) and Qinghai - located at an altitude of approximately 4 000 m - give way first of all to an intermediate zone of mountain chains and basins (1 000–2 000 m) and then to the eastern regions of hills and plains, usually sloping toward Dong Hai. Climate is as varied as relief. Temperatures and rainfall are determined by latitude (4°N–53°N), altitude and continentality (monsoon).
As a result, China is usually sub-divided into two distinct geographical regions (Figure 3). Western China (mainly Xizang, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Nei Monggol) is a vast region of very high plateaux - arctic climate due to altitude - and desert zones. Although there are many stretches of water in the Xinjiang, fish culture development is very recent and still relatively insignificant. Eastern China is itself sub-divided geographically into four main regions: (a) northeast, a vast undulating plain which in the west gives way to mountain chains; the climate is cold (average annual temperature -4°C to 10°C), winters are dry and summers warm; Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces; (b) north, plateau and loess plains: temperate continental climate (annual average exceeds 8°C), with hot summers; rainfall 250–750 mm/year; Beijing, Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu; (c) centre, hills, mountains and valleys (Chang Jiang - tributaries and delta); sub-tropical climate, temperate to hot (monthly average temperature 6°–28°C), with a fairly long, cold, dry season; rainfall 700–2 500 mm/year; Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan and Sichuan; (d) south, wide, coastal strip, hills and mountains, Xi Jiang and Zhu Jiang (delta) plains; hot, sub-tropical climate influenced by the monsoon (annual, average temperature 20°–22°C); rainfall, 1 000–2 500 mm/year; provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Guizhou, Yunnan and the autonomous region of Guangxi.
From the administrative point of view, the People's Republic of China is sub-divided into 30 regions, which depend directly on the central government (Figure 3). These regions are divided into 22 provinces (sheng), 3 municipalities (shi) - Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai - and 5 regions (zizhiqu) - Nei Monggol, Xinjiang, Xizang, Ninjxia and Guangxi. At the next administrative level are the ‘districts’ and ‘cities’. In some cases, several districts are combined to form a ‘prefecture’. The districts themselves are made up of several popular communes (Section 3.2).
The current population is almost 1 000 million, the great majority of whom live in eastern China. The main official language is based on the Beijing dialect, although many other dialects are spoken in different regions, such as the Guangzhou, Fujian and Shanghai dialects. As regards writing, the Chinese characters (simplified since 1949) are used, as well as the romanized version ‘pinyin’, which was made official on 1 January 1979. This report uses this transcription for the names of persons, places, rivers and lakes1.
The total area of China is estimated at 960 million hectares. Forests occupy 12.7 percent of this area and lands permanently under cultivation, 10 percent, 45 percent of which are irrigated. The continental waters extend over 1.77 percent of the total area, as shown below.
The metric system of measurement is increasingly used, except for units of area which are still currently expressed in ‘mu’. The data obtained by the group was converted to the metric system on the basis of the conversion factors given at the beginning of the report (page xiv).
