Русский
Fish and seafood exports from Russia to China could reach an estimated US$4.88 billion by 2030, the All-Russian Fisheries Association (VARPE) has stated. Russia exported US$3.42 billion of fish produce to China in 2025, increasing its share in the country’s fish imports to 14.4%.
VARPE said that “Russia became the largest supplier of fish products to China in 2025 and retained its position in the first quarter of 2026. Ecuador was the previous leader and has now moved to second place. ” The data was based on an analysis from the ITC Trade Map.
Russian fishermen reinforced their standing in Q1 2026, supplying China with almost US$1.1 billion of fish products. Russia’s share in Chinese imports grew from 13.8% to 16.2%, while Ecuador’s share decreased from 14.6% to 14%.
VARPE head Herman Zverev said that “China remains both a global fish processing factory and a global leader of luxury consumption, making it attractive for all fishing nations.” Russia has become the first country to bring premium seafood to China, where it has established a market for live crab effectively from scratch. Today, China is the biggest consumer of this produce worldwide. Ecuador and Norway later followed in our footsteps. Meanwhile, as well as developing domestic consumption of Russian fish products, we have been developing the export of raw materials to processing enterprises in China – frozen pollock, cod, salmon and others. This policy has allowed Russia to maintain its leadership on the Chinese market for many years. And the following strategy also helped to win it back: we increased exports of frozen pollock, herring and cod for processing and live crabs, surimi and other advanced processing products for domestic consumption. The range of products exported is also expanding and now includes halibut and pollock caviar. The potential for exports to China has not been exhausted.”
