Northeast city shows way in seafood trade(2)

Smooth Customs

In the past few years, Jilin has established several foreign shipping routes for domestic trade. It has shipped goods to major Chinese ports such as Ningbo, Zhejiang province; Qingdao, Shandong province; and Shanghai via the Port of Zarubino in Russia.

This has become an important communication and cooperation channel linking Northeast China with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.

Meanwhile, Hunchun has further enhanced the "smooth Customs clearance" coordination mechanism with railways, Customs, and other organizations to continuously improve the level of opening-up. This has led to a one-hour Customs clearance in advance at highway ports and 24/7 Customs clearance at railway ports.

At the Hunchun Northeast Asia Cross-Border E-Commerce Industrial Park, a variety of products — including food, chemicals used in daily life, and unique handicrafts from the Republic of Korea, Japan, Russia and other countries — are for sale.

"For many years, our company has been mainly processing seafood products for import and export. Now, we would also like to expand our business through e-commerce channels," said Zhao Kuizheng, general manager of Hunchun Xingyang Seafood Co Ltd, which is located in the industrial park.

From being approved as one of the first border cities to open up to the world in 1992 to the establishment of a marine economic development demonstration zone in 2020, Hunchun has focused on developing the marine economy and expanding international cooperation.

This trend has accelerated with China's further opening-up and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Hunchun firmly believes that building more projects will serve as a strong engine and foundation for the growth of the marine economy, and the city has already embraced new business opportunities.

At Hunchun Laoji Food Co Ltd, located in the Jilin Hunchun mutual trade goods landing and processing industrial base, workers are busily slicing, processing and packaging various seafood products.

These prepared dishes will soon be shipped to regions nationwide, and consumers can easily enjoy a seafood feast by simply heating up the dishes.

Semi-cooked and quick-frozen Chinese food requires only simple reheating, and can be delivered with extended quality guarantees. Such food has become increasingly popular since the COVID-19 pandemic, given that only minimum preparation is involved.

"Hunchun is blessed with abundant seafood resources, and the processing industry has a strong foundation. We have identified and utilized such advantages. We have extended our business line and successfully developed some 20 types of precooked seafood dishes, which have been highly popular in the market," said Li Jing, a representative of Hunchun Laoji Food.

By 2031, annual sales of China's ready-to-cook meal market are forecast to exceed 1 trillion yuan, growing some 60 percent from 634.1 billion yuan in 2026, according to a research report by CITIC Securities.