Seafood Guides: Russian king crabs have enriched the Chinese table

In recent years, with the expansion of Sino-Russian trade and the improvement of logistics and transportation conditions, Russian king crabs have gradually entered the Chinese diet as high-end aquatic products.

Yulia Yurova, vice president of the Russian Crab Industry Group, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that September to December each year is the most suitable fishing period for king crabs, and live and frozen crabs are mainly sold in the Chinese market. Special equipment and life support systems installed on crab fishing boats ensure the quality of delivered seafood. Most of the king crabs exported to China are transferred to vehicles equipped with special equipment at Russian ports and then transported to China through the Hunchun Port on the Sino-Russian border.

The Hunchun Port is only 42 kilometers away from the Russian Port of Poshet and 71 kilometers away from the Zarubino Port. In 2016, the Hunchun Port was officially approved as a designated port for importing chilled seafood and edible aquatic animals, becoming the main channel for Russian king crabs to enter China. As an important port for China to import king crabs, more than 1.5 million king crabs enter the country from Hunchun Port every year. Tasting king crabs has become a tourist label for Hunchun.

Yurova said that China's crab consumption has grown rapidly. Last year, the Russian Crab Industry Group exported 3,000 tons of king crabs to China, and this year it is expected to reach 5,100 tons. In addition to land transportation, some Russian seafood will be transported by sea to China's ports such as Zhoushan, Weihai, Qingdao, Yantai and Shanghai. She hopes that Russia and China will further strengthen the construction of transportation and logistics infrastructure to adapt to the growing scale of aquatic trade between the two sides.

"Our products are exported to China, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but the most important market is China. We are very optimistic about the potential of the Chinese market, especially the growing consumer demand in inland cities. We believe that through the cooperation and support of Russia and China, the future trade prospects will be broader." Yurova said.