China imports frozen fish from Pakistan

Supply resumes after govt lifts restriction on fishing

KARACHI: China has started importing frozen fish from Pakistan as a standard-sized container of silver croaker fish on June 2, 2020, set off from Karachi Port via a cargo ship of COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited.

Asim Abrar, the person in-charge of the fish processing plant Sea Green, said they started resuming supply of seafood to China as the government has removed the restriction on fishing.

Because of the strict lockdown imposed by the Sindh government during the Covid-19 outbreak, fishermen could not go fishing, which affected the implementation of many international contracts.

Moreover, the months of annual restriction from June to July due to the breeding season of the marine species would put great extra pressure on the livelihood of people associated with the profession. Therefore, the Sindh government decided to offer relief to the fishermen community by allowing them to fish in the sea in June this year.

“As soon as the ban lifted, we contacted fishermen to go fishing then kept the fish under refrigeration to go through customs,” Abrar added.

“Our seafood is of high quality and we supply in large quantity. Every year orders from China just pour in.”

Due to the resumption in export activities, now the Chinese importer Xu Zhenwei is looking forward to the arrival of the fish, which he expected to receive at the end of June. “Gutted silver croaker and golden threadfin bream without head and fins, hairtail and squid from Pakistan are very popular among the Chinese people. We are importing about 150 containers of frozen seafood from Pakistan annually,” he apprised.

Data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed that in the first seven months of FY2019-20, Pakistan’s export of goods and service to China rose 1.8%, while fish frozen exports increased from $40.253 million last year to $73.947 million during the current fiscal year, showing a growth of 83.70%.

Although coronavirus is still wreaking havoc at present, Abrar is confident due to the Chinese market and Pak-Sino trade and expects a favourable turn.

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON CHINA ECONOMIC NET. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2020.

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