China has started importing frozen fish from Pakistan as a standard sized container of silver croaker fish set off from Karachi Port via a cargo ship of COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited.

Now, the Chinese importer Xu Zhenwei is looking forward to the arrival of the fish and expects to receive them in the end of June, according to China Economic Net.

“Gutted silver croaker and golden threadfin bream without head and fins, hairtail and squid from Pakistan are very popular with Chinese people. We are importing about 150 containers of frozen seafood from Pakistan annually,” he said.

Asimabrar, the person in charge of the fish processing plant Sea Green, said as the government removed the restriction on fishing, they are gradually resuming supplying seafood to China.

Because of the strict lockdown imposed by Sindh government during COVID-19 spread, fishermen cannot go fishing at sea, which affected the implementation of many international contracts.

Moreover, the months of annual restriction from June to July due to the breeding season of the marine species would put great extra pressure on the livelihood of people associated with the profession.

Therefore, Sindh government has decided to offer relief to the fishermen community by allowing them to fish in the sea in June this year.

“As soon as the ban lifted, we contacted fishermen to go fishing then kept the fish under refrigeration to go through the customs,” Asimabrarb said. “Our seafood is of high quality and we supply in large quantity. Every year orders from China just pour in.”

The official data shows that in the first seven months of FY 2019/20, Pakistan’s export of goods and service to China rose 1.8% while frozen fish exports increased from $40.253 million last year to $73.947 million during the current fiscal year, showing growth of 83.70 percent.

Although novel coronavirus is still wreaking havoc at present, Asimabrar brims with confidence with the Chinese market and Sino-Pak trade. He is longing for a favourable turn.–APP