The first China New Year Fish Expo is scheduled to take place at the end of the year in Zhuhai's Doumen District, where the Baijiao Sea Bass industry is flourishing. 

The concept of "New Year Fish" was initiated by Guangdong Province, aiming towards boosting its rural development by utilizing the traditional custom of buying fish for the Spring Festival. Consumers buy fish as a symbol of good luck in the New Year.

A specially designed logo for Baijiao Sea Bass was released on Dec 2. The logo features traditional Chinese characters and uses red as its main color, because red represents luck and happiness. It also used to symbolize south in the ancient time. 

Newly released logo for Baijiao Sea Bass [Photo by Liang Guanxian / Zhuhai Daily]

The preparations for the expo are currently ongoing, and the expo itself is expected to boost the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, as well as increase local farmers' income. Doumen will cultivate a batch of products, brands, and new economic development patterns featuring the New Year Fish. 

Events such as exhibitions, industrial matchmaking fairs, industrial development forums, fish auctions will be held during the expo. Various enterprises will also be evaluated for a spot on the Top 100 New Year Fish Enterprises in China list.

The rich aquatic ecology and pollution-free aquaculture in Baijiao Town have made it perfect for breeding the fish. Baijiao Sea Bass became a National Protected Geographical Indication product in 2017 and its breeding area in Doumen District has now expanded to 39,000 mu (2,600 hectares). This brings in more than half of China's total fish yield, and more than 70 percent of Guangdong Province's total.

Zhaoxin Village in Doumen is vital to the Baijiao Sea Bass industry. It has more than 400 households raising this fish. The village's annual production value reached 480 million yuan ($69 million) in 2021.

Baijiao Sea Bass is now widely sold in major domestic cities and has been exported to markets in Japan, South Korea, the United States, and the Europe. It has become one of the pillar industries of Zhuhai's agriculture and a shining star in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's agriculture industry.

The average purchase price of the fish from breeders during the National Day holiday, which ran from Oct 1 to 7, went up from 9.63 yuan ($1.38) in 2021 to 15.45 yuan ($2.22) per 500 grams in 2022, breaking the previous record.

The prefabricated food industry has soared this year and the Doumen Prefabricated Food Industrial Park has been included in the Construction List of 2022 Guangdong Provincial Modern Agriculture Industrial Parks, together with the other 10 parks in the province. The sales revenue of the prefabricated food industry experienced a 30 percent growth during this year's National Day holiday. 

Meanwhile, the sales volume and revenue of Baijiao Sea Bass dishes in Zhuhai restaurants have both achieved a growth rate of more than 40 percent.

Continuous political incentives have been given by Doumen District in order to support the Baijiao Sea Bass industry. The district has helped local enterprises set up 69 specialty stores in major domestic cities and establish a sales network in 16 provincial capital cities and six second and third-tier cities.