A major Africa-focused Chinese trading and construction company has branched into fisheries in Angola.
The head office of Qingdao You Xing Group subsidiary Shi Hao Fishing Co, also known as Seahawk Pescas, was visited recently by Angolan Fisheries Minister Maria Antonieta Baptista. The minister met company executives to discuss expansion plans at Seahawk Pescas’ base in Lobitos city in the Benguela Province of Angola.
During her visit, Baptista met with Sun Jin, deputy CEO of the fishing firm, as well as Pan Jing Jian, the vice president of the You Xing Group, which has trading and construction interests in Angola. The company was acquired two years ago by the Qingdao You Xing Group and operates both as a shipbuilder and fishing company.
Minister Baptista said she wants to increase local catches by adding new, modern vessels built by the Chinese firm, according to a statement from Seahawk Pescas.
Another Chinese firm, meanwhile, appears to have fallen out of favor with Baptista. The minister recently canceled the license for a USD 30 million (EUR 26.7 million) fishery base to be built by a firm described in official documents as “Angola Daping,” which had purchased the 29,000 square-meter site for a combined shipyard, port and processing hub on the Angolan coast. The land is part of a government reserve, according to the minister's office.
A Dalian-based firm, Liaoning Da Ping Fishing Co. lists Angola and Sierra Leone as the center of its fishing operations in West Africa.
China, which is also a major buyer of Angolan oil, has sought to steer its long-term seafood production strategy towards “co-operation” in aquaculture and fishing in Africa.
Photo courtesy of Universidade Agostinho Neto
