Manya Rathore
Research expert covering India
Fisheries and aquaculture in China - statistics & facts
The People’s Republic of China is the largest producer of aquatic products in the world, accounting for around 36 percent of the global fish and seafood production volume in 2023. The consumer market for fish and seafood products in China surpassed a total retail market revenue of 95 billion U.S. dollars in 2024 and was estimated to reach around 153 billion dollars in 2030.
Within China’s aquaculture industry, more than half of the animal production volume comes from inland waters, dominated by finfish. In contrast, marine aquaculture concentrates on the farming of mollusks, which makes China the largest producer of mollusks in the world. Contrary to production increases in aquaculture, China committed to reducing its wild capture volume and the number of fishing vessels. However, this pertains mainly to China’s own coastal and inland resources, while the fishing volume of China’s distant water fleet is planned to be kept stable at around 2.3 million metric tons annually.
Development of fishing and aquaculture in China
China’s production volume of fish and seafood increased tremendously over the last decades, from 4.5 million metric tons in 1980 to roughly 74 million tons in 2024. Since the second half of the 1990s, this growth has nearly exclusively been generated by aquaculture, while capture production of wild fish stabilized at around 13 to 15 million tons. The 14th Five Year Plan for Fishery Development published in January 2022 formulated goals for further improving aquaculture production in quantity and quality while reducing the wild catch volume from 13 million metric tons in 2020 to below 10 million metric tons until 2025.Within China’s aquaculture industry, more than half of the animal production volume comes from inland waters, dominated by finfish. In contrast, marine aquaculture concentrates on the farming of mollusks, which makes China the largest producer of mollusks in the world. Contrary to production increases in aquaculture, China committed to reducing its wild capture volume and the number of fishing vessels. However, this pertains mainly to China’s own coastal and inland resources, while the fishing volume of China’s distant water fleet is planned to be kept stable at around 2.3 million metric tons annually.
China’s trade in aquatic products
While China is a large producer of fish and seafood, it is also a huge consumer and produces mainly for its domestic market. Exports as well as imports of aquatic products ranged roughly at around four million metric tons each in recent years. Exports were mainly directed towards other Asian countries and the United States, while the leading import partners were Ecuador, Russia, Canada, and India. The largest import categories were crustaceans and frozen fish.
