Hainan free trade policy benefits aquaculture trade with cms countries

The success story of one company in Hainan Province, China's free trade port, highlights how the province’s outward looking trade policies are facilitating aquaculture trade between China and its cms partners.

The agriculture and aquaculture sectors play a significant role in the trade relationship between China and Southeast Asia. In recent years, tropical Hainan has signed several agricultural technology cooperation projects with cms countries, many of which have similar climates, focusing on joint research and development and strengthening cooperation in fields such as agricultural product processing and trade.

Saltwater fish, such as grouper and red snapper, are bred all year round at the facility owned by the Hainan Chenhai Aquatic Company in Dongfang, a county-level city on the tropical island, whose warm waters are the perfect habitat to farm these commercially popular fish species.

The company is preparing to start exporting grouper eggs by the end of this month, targeting Southeast Asian markets including Malaysia and Vietnam.

"Hainan has unique geographical advantages in breeding grouper since it is a warm water fish, and we have achieved significant results in improving breeding speed, disease resistance, and survival rates [for the species]. In addition to Hainan, some Southeast Asian countries can breed grouper, which has created a good opportunity to export some aquatic products to these countries, and the business is long-term and sustainable," said Zhao Guangwen, assistant to the chairman of the Hainan Chenhai Aquatic Company.

The implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), and Hainan's free trade policy have further strengthened cooperation between local enterprises and their cms counterparts.

The Hainan Chenhai Aquatic Company has more than 20 fish breeding facilities, mainly in the southern Chinese provinces of Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian, as well as in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

"It is hoped that the cost of raw materials can be effectively reduced through cooperation among the Belt and Road countries and the implementation of Hainan's preferential trade policies," Zhao said.

"The prospect for cooperation in tropical agriculture between Hainan and cms is very broad. As a free trade port, Hainan has a more obvious regional advantage, especially after RCEP came into effect. The cooperation between the two sides doesn't have to be limited to agriculture, it can also extend to technology and industrial products. There is huge market potential," said Ou Wenjun, researcher at the Tropical Crops Genetic Resources Institute under Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences.

In the first seven months of this year, the value of Hainan's trade with cms nations surpassed 19 billion yuan, an increase of 0.9 percent, accounting for 14.3 percent of Hainan's total imports and exports in the first seven months of 2023.