Maldives' Ensis Fisheries has signed an agreement with China's Xingyuan Show Beijing Commercial Management Corporation to export frozen fresh tuna containers to China.
At a special ceremony held in Beijing today, General Manager Hussain Afeef signed the agreement on behalf of Ensis. Chairman Lin Yucheng signed on behalf of the Chinese company.
Ensis General Manager Hussain Afeef told Keyolha that under this agreement to export frozen fresh skipjack and yellowfin tuna consignments to China, the first shipment will be sent to China this coming May.
This is the first agreement signed with a Maldivian company to export fish from the Maldives to China following the implementation of the Maldives-China Free Trade Agreement. Under the free trade agreement, no duty will be levied on any type of fish imported from the Maldives to China. Ensis stated that the decision to export fish to China at this juncture was made because there is currently a high demand for frozen raw fish in the Chinese market, and entering such a competitive market now is expected to secure a place for Maldivian fish products and yield good profits under the agreement.
"We have now signed for the first consignment. Due to the free trade agreement, the opportunity to export at a cheaper rate than the previous cost of importing fish to China has been facilitated. Based on the market situation, raw fish is currently taken from places like Spain in Europe and canned in China. The advantage for Ensis is that raw fish can now be sent to China for processing and canning at a better price than Thailand. It is 15%-20% cheaper," said Ensis General Manager Hussain Afeef.
Currently, Ensis generally exports frozen raw fish to European countries, as well as Thailand, Vietnam, and Mauritius. Ensis has not previously exported frozen fresh raw fish to China. However, in early 2020, a small amount of fresh raw fish was sold to sashimi restaurants in China.
Hussain said that it was stopped at that time because, in addition to the duty levied on fish imported to China, there was not much interest among Chinese importers during that period. However, with the free trade agreement eliminating the duty previously levied on fish imported from the Maldives to China, Hussain said it is expected that the volume of Maldivian fish products exported to China will increase significantly.
Hussain further stated that although Ensis has temporarily halted canning and pouching fish, once production resumes, those products will also be exported to China.
The Maldives signed a free trade agreement with China in 2014. However, the implementation of this agreement began on January 1st of this year.
