Asia's largest scallop depuration center of Zhangzidao Fishery

Dalian Zhangzidao Fishery Group Co Ltd, established in 1958, has since grown into a leader in Chinese aquaculture.

In 2006 it became the first Chinese fishery firm to go public on a stock exchange.

"Our breeding locations range from the Yellow Sea to the Bohai Sea and the East China Sea, with a center in the Zhangzidao Island as the main body and two in Shandong and Fujian province as the wings," said Wu Hougang, president of Zhangzidao Fishery.

The company is approved to use about 50,000 hectares of ocean to cultivate and process seafood including scallops, trepang and abalone, the biggest seafood breeding base in China.

Development mode

In recent years, Zhangzidao Fishery has implemented a development mode that integrates the company, the local government, financing institutions, scientific research institutes and ocean farmers.

The fishery has played a leading role in the development of local economies and industrial structure, while the government provided a forum, scientific research institutes gave technical support, banks assisted in investment and aquaculture farmers produced seafood.

According to Wu, the company allocated more than 60 million yuan to sea farmers in the past three years. It also invested over 300 million yuan in capital. The 12,000 farmers in Changhai county, of which Zhangzidao is the key island, have generated 100 million yuan from the investment.

Changhai county has already become the primary supply source of Zhangzidao Fishery. The company and the local farmers enjoy mutual benefit from their cooperation.

Seabed bank

The fishery has established bottom breeding bases to cultivate numerous seafood species.

Seeds are cultured in hatchery facilities on the island, and then distributed to their natural ocean habitat. The seafood grown in the natural environment is healthy, delicious and rich in nutrition.

Every year, the company distributes about 100 million seeds into the sea. At the bottom of the cultivation area, there are so many marine creatures that it is called a "seabed bank".

Its three main products, Yezo scallops, trepang, and abalone, can only grow well in a suitable environment. Zhangzidao Island, located at the north of the Yellow Sea, is 56 nautical miles from the continent and free from pollution.

The natural environment of the island is well suited to aquaculture, which combined with bottom-breeding technology, yields high quality seafood. Zhangzidao's products are recognized as organic, green and pollution-free food. It has received original trademark approval from China's administrative institutions.

Largest scallop processing center

Zhangzidao Fishery set up a scallop processing center in 2005 that covers 28,000 sq m on two floors. It can process 1,500 tons of live scallops and 6,000 tons of frozen scallops annually. The products are sold both at home and abroad.

Most of the testing instruments and equipment at the center were made overseas to comply with standards meeting requirements of the European Union and the US Food and Drug Administration.

The company also established China's first Yezo scallop seed facility in 2006, now the country's biggest, with more than 40 percent of sales nationwide.

Big players

"To build into a global top 100 fishery company, we do not only need increase sales volume, but also improve our brand image, management capability and marketing performance," said Wu Hougang.

Zhangzidao Fishery has established a market-oriented development strategy and strengthened cooperation with Fortune 500 companies and world's top 100 fishery companies.

Along with Japan's Sojitz Corp, the company established northeast China's first ultra-low temperature tuna processing plant. It has also cooperated or communicated with world top 10 fishery companies, including the biggest fishery company of all, Japan's Maruha.

By cooperating and competing with the top businesses, it is narrowing the gap with world-class operators.

Its goal is to become one of the world's top 100 fishery companies.