Data on China seafood imports in three quarters

According to a market bulletin released in mid-November 2024 of the Agency of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), citing statistics from the Chinese Customs Administration, in the first nine months of 2024, China’s seafood imports (HS codes 03, 1604, 1605) reached US$12.92 billion, down 10.8 percent compared to the same period of 2023.

Vietnam is currently among major seafood suppliers to China

Ecuador is China’s largest seafood import market with US$2.28 billion, down 18.6 percent compared to the same period last year. Seafood imports from Russia reached US$1.92 billion, down 11.4 percent year on year; and from Canada at US$1.01 billion, down 1.6 percent year on year. The total seafood import turnover from these three markets reached US$5.23 billion, accounting for 40.4 percent of China's import proportion in the first three quarters of 2024.

In the first nine months of 2024, Vietnam was the 4th largest seafood suppliers to China with export revenue reaching US$804 million, up 31.7 percent over the same period last year.

During the nine-month period, China also spent US$774 million on importing seafood from the US, down 5.6 percent year on year; US$749 million for import from India, down 13 percent; and US$687 million from Norway, down 3.4 percent...

Among the major seafood import markets, the seafood import turnover from Taiwan (China) in the first nine months of 2024 recorded an increase of 604 percent year on year.

In contrast, the seafood import value from Peru plunged by 70 percent compared to the first nine months of 2023, while that from Chile also dropped by 19.2 year on year; and from Australia down by 22 percent year on year...

In the ASEAN bloc, in addition to Vietnam, in the first nine months of 2024, China also imported seafood from Indonesia worth US$719 million, up 23 percent over the same period last year; while the import value from Thailand was at US$309 million, down 13.6 percent year on year; and from Malaysia at US$175 million, down 24.8 percent over the same period last year.