)
With focus on reviving seafood imports from India, a 10-member Chinese delegation is arriving at Visakhapatnam on Tuesday (June 25) to visit the state's shrimp processing plants, prawn farms and other related facilities, said the Prawn Farmers Federation of India.
"In recent years, China has been importing huge quantities of marine products from Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, whereas not much from India. With Andhra Pradesh producing large quantities of vanamei shrimp, which has a huge demand in the Chinese market, the latter is showing good interest in procuring marine foods from here. In this regard, the federation has been initiating steps to attract Chinese traders," said I P R Mohan Raju, president, Prawn Farmers Federation of India.
In the current year, AP vanamei shrimp production is expected to reach 200,000 tonne. Apart from this, 40,000-50,000 tonne shrimp will come through sea catches. The greater access to Chinese market could help the industry grow in the international market. Of late, China had been imposing about 20 per cent import duty on Indian marine products, whereas, shrimp imports from Vietnam have zero duty, he said.
Therefore, to benefit from the policy, a majority of Indian exports to China was being routed via Vietnam, said Mohan Raju.
The annual demand for marine products in China stands at 1.6 million tonne. However, local production was 1.2 million tonne, a net deficit of 400,000 tonne, he said.
