The official estimate of total Chinese aquatic production in 1993 was about 17.83 million tonnes. Over the last ten years, the Chinese government has given assistance to fish farmers to encourage them to develop aquaculture of various types. Most assistance concentrated on traditional pond fish culture. The Central Government believed this would be a quick way to help rural people to increase their income. The policy worked very well over the first few years, and some country people have become relatively wealthy through fish culture as well as improving their nutritional standards. The policy also allowed farmers to sell their products on the free market, resulting in more choice of aquatic products for the consumers and the establishment of a normal system for marketing fish in the country.
During the first half of 1994 aquatic production again increased, and prices also went up a lot, as follows:
Aquatic production was ?????? and had increased 22.3% over the same period of the previous year.
The average price of aquatic products went up 25.4% over the same period of the previous year.
The price of aquatic products rose more than 30% over last year in big cities like Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai.
The total value of aquatic products was about 29.5 billion yuan, an increase of 54.3% over the same period of 1993.
Production from sea water aquaculture was ????? tonnes, an increase of 30%.
Production from fresh water aquaculture was ????? tonnes, an increase of 24.3%.
Production from capture fisheries was ?????? tonnes, an increase of 19.7%.
Imports were ?????? tonnes and cost US$382 million, increases of 44.4% and 37.3% respectively.
Exports were ??????? tonnes worth US$8.67 million, increases of 15.9% and 27.7%.
In 1993 the government controlled only 12% of the total Chinese aquatic market, fish associations 23%, private dealers 40%, and 25% was sold by the fish producers themselves. The government still owns a few big wholesalers, but private dealers are now the most important in the fish marketing system in China.
Chinese living standards have improved a lot after ten years of economic reform, and the market requirement for aquatic products grew faster than the increase in production. This is the main reason for increases in price, but a second reason is inflation.
A decline in high value fish in sea fish landings is now beginning to be noticed by even the most conservative merchants and fishmongers.
Fish of the carp family and other freshwater species are consumed all over China, although there are differences in the size of markets, in per capita levels of consumption, and in prices. Average retail prices on Chinese markets in the first half of 1994 are shown in Table 2.
TABLE 2. AVERAGE 1994 RETAIL PRICES OF FISH IN CHINA
| Species | Price (Yuan/kg) | Change on previous year (%) |
| Common carp | 11.45 | +20.4 |
| Golden carp | 10.88 | +12.3 |
| Silver carp | 7.35 | +30.72 |
| Fresh water eel | 80.00 | +60.0 |
| Prawn | 55.00 | +75.0 |
| Live trout | 30.00 | +40.0 |
The fish marketing system is not fully developed in China yet. Both Central and local government have started to build a lot of fish markets of various kinds to help trading in aquatic products, but both wholesale and retail selling is mostly privately organized.
The chain of fish trade in China is as follows:
| First level | Domestic products | Imported products | |
| Second level | Wholesale markets | ||
| Third level | Fishmongers | Free market outlets | Food stores |
| Fourth level | Domestic consumers | Restaurants/hotels etc. | |
Hong Kong is a special market for aquatic products, which imported 31,230 tonnes of marine fish and 38,240 tonnes of fresh water fish from China in 1993. Per capita consumption of 7.5kg of fresh water and 23 kg of marine fish in Hong Kong during 1993 was much higher than in mainland China. The fish markets of Hong Kong are very well developed, and the Hong Kong buyers will only accept very high quality products. A big percentage of both fresh water and marine fish reaches the consumer alive, and there is little demand for frozen fish.
Trout is a very new product in China, and the species is still unknown to most Chinese people. The small production and undeveloped marketing system means that generally trout can only be sold in the area close to the trout farms at present. There is some sale to top hotels in China, but demand is low and most hotels import trout products from overseas because they require high quality processed products.
However, with the huge population, the demand for high quality aquatic products in China is virtually unlimited. Supplies from capture fisheries are not expected to become more plentiful, and on the contrary landings of high value marine fishes may fall. There is therefore a very good opportunity for farming of trout and other high quality species to help fill the shortfall in supply.
