The making of a brand-

The success of Dalian Zhangzidao Fishery Group Co Ltd is due to its reliance on branding, scientific and technological innovation, ecological cultivation and strict quality controls.

Zhangzidao is China first well-known trademark in aquaculture. The brand is registered in 30 regions and countries.

"The core of a brand is culture. Not all the good equipment can produce good products, and not all the good sea can be certain to grow good seafood," said Wu Hougang, president of Zhangzidao Fishery.

"The most valuable contribution to the Zhangzidao brand are our values, faith, responsibility and goals," he said.

With a high quality brand image, its main products, including Yezo scallops, trepang, and abalone are widely recognized.

Wu Hougang, president of Zhangzidao, believes that protecting the ecology environment and realizing sustainable development are crucial for further development of all Chinese fishery companies.

Zhangzidao Fishery and the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) jointly set up a laboratory for healthy breeding of marine products. They chose an ecological approach that uses sea bottom breeding, relying on science and technology to control the cultivation.

Every year, the company invests 5 million yuan to clean out hostile organisms, make artificial reefs and purify seawater so the natural environment is optimized and the high quality seafood is guaranteed.

The government of the Zhangzidao Town has invested 30 million yuan (US$ 4.38 million) in installing environment protection facilities.

The quality of both the atmosphere and the seawater surrounding the island continues to meet first-class State criteria.

Now, Zhangzidao Island has become a state-level organic producing base of agricultural products.

Wu said that the fishery has insisted in improving production through research and technology by cooperating with well-known scientific research institutes.

The company signed a contract with IOCAS for postdoctoral program. It has set up a base to apply the scientific research results of Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences.

The company has built high-standard labs. It has undertaken or participated in two state-supported scientific projects during the 11th Five Year Plan, and four of national 863 projects.

Zhangzidao Fishery was approved to be a State-level enterprise technical center by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2006.

The company has invested more than 30 million yuan (US$ 4.38 million) to carry out the project of ocean farm together with Dalian Fisheries University.

As a seafood company, Zhangzidao Fishery regards "Seafood safety guarantee" as the prime directive in all its activities. It ensures the safety of the products from origin to dinner table with strict quality standards.

The company lays great emphasis on the construction of quality systems. All processing plants are certified with ISO9001 and HACCP. All the main products are certified organic under the country's Green Food label.

It has set up many high-standard biological laboratories with world-class advanced testing equipment and excellent capacity that can meet the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and EU test requirements.

In May 2007, FDA audited Zhangzidao Fishery as a representative of China's fishery companies. During the audit, FDA officials spoke highly of the clean sea environment, normative process of harvesting, transporting, processing and quality inspecting.

So far, the sea area of Zhangzidao Fishery has been maintaining state-level clean criterion and is confirmed by the National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center as one of China's most suitable places for breeding and growing of precious seafood.