James O’Donnell, Asia Manager, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board

2012 was China’s weakest year of economic expansion since 1999 with GDP growth 7.8%. China’s exports grew by 14% percent in December 2012 and retail sales increased by 15% relative to the same period in 2011. The Consumer Price Index rose by 2.5%. Overall, the economy in the first half of 2013 is expected to remain solid as the new Chinese leaders are focusing on maintaining stable growth levels.

A report compiled by the USDA’s Global Agricultural Information Network in December 2012 indicated that China’s demand for high-end seafood remains strong despite somewhat slower economic growth. Several high-end US seafood exporters grew their sales to China at a faster pace than traditional US exporters selling to North China for processing and re-exporting in 2012. The more affluent South China remains the center of high-value imported seafood product consumption.

The same report also mentioned that little branding of seafood has taken place in China’s imported seafood market, but there is an “increasing awareness of pricing based on the country of origin of the product in wholesale markets and some associations being made by consumers tying the quality of product to the country of origin.” Many consumers and restaurant owners in major cities can speak intelligently about their impressions of a number of seafood products from anywhere in the world.

According to the most recent statistics by China’s Ministry of Agriculture, China imported 1.02 million tonnes of seafood, worth US$2.39 billion for domestic consumption in the first three quarters of 2012. This is a drop of nearly 4% in volume but a 17% increase in value compared to the same period in 2011, which indicates that China is importing more premium type product than previously. Local consumers, while still preferring to purchase high-end shellfish live, are consuming frozen and further processed mollusk products.

Ireland experienced considerable growth in our seafood exports to China during 2012 where figures for the period Jan – Nov saw exports reaching €9.5m, up from around €4m in the same period in 2011.