A variety of delicious aquatic products such as vigorous lobsters and succulent salmon have always been common dishes on dining tables of Chinese people. These delicacies are so attractive that many people can not say no to them. As the most populous country, China is also the largest consumer market for aquatic products in the world. What’s more, the consumption upgrade and rapid development of crossborder e-commerce are constantly driving the demand of imported aquatic products in the China market. 

Boston Lobster, Norwegian Salmon, New Zealand Abalone etc., the dining tables of Chinese people are filled with a variety of aquatic food from around the world. In 2018, China imported 3.28 billion kilograms of aquatic products, with an increase of 14.79% year-on-year. What's more, the import value reached 11.39 billion US dollars with an increase of 44.93% year-on-year. It is estimated that China's aquatic product imports will exceed 10 million tons in 2020. ASEAN, Russia, the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia will become important sources of Chinese seafood imports. In 2018, ASEAN’s export volume of seafood to China exceeded Russia’s. 

Nowadays, imported aquatic products from thousands of miles away are not unattainable rarities. However, due to some limiting factors such as policy, technology and transportation cost, China's imports of aquatic products are mainly frozen. By quantity, frozen aquatic products account for 93% of China’s imported aquatic products. 

Among these thousands of imported aquatic products, frozen shrimp is the one with the largest import volume. The data shows that the import of shrimp and shelled fresh shrimp in 2018 exceeded 150,000 tons, and the import value was more than 1 billion US dollars. The white prawn from Ecuador beat all the rivals, both in terms of import volume (over 75,000 tons) and import value (over 420 million US dollars), ranking the first among Chinese frozen shrimp import sources. In addition to frozen shrimp, China also imported a large number of frozen cod, with an amount of 729 million US dollars and a quantity of about 190,000 tons. Among them, Russian frozen cod is far ahead of other countries with import volume of 100,000 tons and import value of 250 million US dollars. In addition, the import value of frozen pollocks reached 654 million US dollars, and the quantity was about 560,000 tons, ranking the third in China's imported aquatic products. Among them, Russian frozen cod took the first place with 510,000 tons and 520 million US dollars, going far beyond other countries. 

Of course, we can still see a lot of fresh imported aquatic products in the market, such as Alaska king crab, Canadian geoduck and so on. In terms of the types of fresh imported aquatic products in China, the rock lobster ranks the first in terms of import value, reaching 912 million US dollars, and the quantity is about 15,000 tons. The Atlantic salmon (salmon), which is loved by many people, ranks the second, followed by lobster. 

With the continuous improvement of China's per capita disposable income, the consumption structure is apt to the high-end market, and the total demand for imported aquatic products is constantly expanding. Thanks to the favorable tariff preferences, tariff rates for most seafood such as shrimp, tuna, octopus, king crab, etc., have been reduced by more than a half. Besides, the opening of a number of routes for importing seafood, as well as favorable policies, are greatly driving the sales of imported aquatic products. Not only that, now post-80s and post-90s generation have become the main consumers of imported aquatic products. They have good educational backgrounds, advanced and more rational consumption view. They are not only requiring for high-quality aquatic products, but also requiring clean and safe products, as well as convenient, meticulous and humanized high-quality services. Nowadays, more and more quality and sustainable aquatic products are gradually entering the dining table of ordinary family.