The Russian Federal Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo) released new numbers indicating the country saw a big uptick in seafood exports to China last year.
According to statistics shared by the agency, Russia shipped 36 percent more seafood by volume to China in 2023 than it did in 2022. That increase, coupled with increases of other agricultural products, boosted agricultural trade to more than USD 11 billion (EUR 10.1 billion), it said.
Based on Chinese customs data, Russia shipped 1.29 million metric tons (MT) of fish products to the country, an increase of 36.1 percent and a historical high. Despite the big increase in export volume, however, export value only increased to USD 2.89 billion (EUR 2.67 billion), or a 4.88 percent jump.
According to Rosrybolovstvo, the country is maintaining that pace in 2024 and has so far shipped 522,640 MT of fish products to China.
“The main fish exports to China are pollock (about 60 percent of the total), herring, sardines, fishmeal, and crab,” Rosrybolovstvo said.
The increased exports to China come as Rosrybolovstvo reported Russian fishermen have, as of 10 July, caught 2.6 million MT of seafood, representing 28,400 MT, or 1.1 percent, more than at the same time the previous year.
At a meeting of the Intergovernmental Russian-Chinese Commission on Cooperation and Development of the Russian Far East and the Northeast People’s Republic of China, officials from both countries credited the increase in export volumes to good relations between the two countries.
“Relations between our countries are at the highest level in history and continue to develop,” Yuri Trutnev, the deputy prime minister of the Russian federation and president of the Russian Far Eastern Federal District, said. “We are confident that the preservation and development of time-tested friendly ties between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China is a necessary condition for maintaining stability in the world.”
Rosrybolovstvo also highlighted Russia’s efforts to ...
