USSEC’s China office sponsored and participated in the Global Aquaculture Annual Conference, one of the most important conferences in the country’s aquaculture sector, organized by China Aquatic Products Processing & Marketing Alliance (CAPPMA), the nation’s most important and influential organization of its kind, from May 17 to 20. This is the third consecutive year in which USSEC participated in the conference as the major sponsor. The event attracted more than 3,500 participants, with the affiliated expo witnessing more than 180 companies participating in the show and more than 15,000 visitors.
Zhang Xiaoping, USSEC Regional Director – Greater China, gave a welcome speech at the event’s opening ceremony and two USSEC aquaculture staff members gave two technical presentations. USSEC also had a booth at the show affiliated with this conference. The booth, which featured a display of an in pond raceway system (IPRS) model, was designed to make visitors aware of the technology, how it operates, and the advantages brought to multiple parties, particularly producers, consumers, and the environment.
On the morning of May 17, immediately following the opening ceremony, Mr. Yu Kangzheng, Vice Minister of Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Affairs (MARA), accompanied by Mr. Zhang Xianliang, Director-General of Bureau of Fisheries & Fisheries Law Enforcement, and Mr. Cui Lifeng, Director-General of China National Extension Center for Fisheries Technology (NEC), visited USSEC’s booth. Mr. Zhang Xiaoping and the USSEC aqua staff greeted Mr. Yu and his entourage, followed by an IPRS briefing and information about its development in China, given by Jim Zhang, USSEC Aquaculture Program Manager. Mr. Yu looked at the IPRS model displayed in the booth and asked questions regarding production yield, the reuse of removed waste from the production system, the purification and filtration of the used water, and the safety of the final product. After listening to the answers, Mr. Yu showed his satisfaction and commented that this was a good technology. During his visit to USSEC’s booth, he demonstrated high interest in getting more information about this technology. Mr. Yu’s visit to USSEC’s booth is a very positive sign from the Chinese government towards USSEC’s efforts of promoting IPRS in the country.
After more than six years of promotion in China, IPRS technology is now well recognized by both government agencies and the industry as a technology that can help to break the long-term bottlenecks that the country’s aquaculture industry has been facing. Because of the technology’s demonstrated advantages, the government has listed it as one of the six priority aquaculture technologies to be promoted and extended in the country in the future. IPRS ranks second on the list. This is also the third year that the government has listed IPRS as one of the priority aquaculture technologies.
During the conference, when talking about the contribution to the development of China’s aquaculture industry, some of the key decision makers for China’s aquaculture industry such as Mr. Zhang Xianliang, Mr. Cui Lifeng, and Mr. Cui He, Chairman of CAPPMA, all spoke highly of the roles USSEC has played in the country for more than three decades.