Fishermen in Greater Tainan recently expressed their hope that the government would help increase the marketing of Taiwanese milkfish in China as they seek to make inroads in the Chinese market.
To facilitate the export of milkfish to China, they were included in the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement’s (ECFA) “early harvest” list, which provides a preferential tariffs.
In a deal brokered by Greater Tainan’s Cross-strait Economics, Trade and Cultural Development Association, China’s Shanghai Fisheries General Corp in March agreed to buy milkfish from Syuejia District (學甲) fishermen.
Under the contract, each of the 100 fishermen will provide 18,000kg of milkfish at a guarantee purchase price of NT$27 a kilogram, equating to 1,800 tonnes of milkfish sold to the Chinese market by the end of the year.
Association president Wang Wen-tsung (王文宗) said the average production cost for milkfish is about NT$21 a kilogram, although the transaction price by milkfish ponds is usually between NT$18 and NT$24.
“Winning a contract that guarantees a purchase price is the best way to protect fishermen’s livelihood,” he said.
Several fishermen attended a ceremony to mark the first shipment of 24 tonnes of milkfish to China on Aug. 25.
A fisherman surnamed Hsieh (謝) said it was the first time in more than 30 years that his milkfish farm had the opportunity to be part of a large-scale aquaculture contract.
“I don’t have to worry about getting a good price after harvest,” Hsieh said, adding that he can now focus on producing high-quality milkfish.
Wang said the milkfish products listed on the ECFA’s “early harvest” list are unprocessed whole fish and frozen fillets, adding that once tariffs are reduced to zero, Taiwanese milkfish will be even more competitive in the Chinese market.
However, it remains to be seen whether Chinese consumers will like the milkfish, Wang said, adding that market demand would be key to whether Greater Tainan fishermen have their contract renewed next year.
Wang Chang-hao (王昌澔), president of the municipality’s Aquaculture Development Association, said about 20 percent of the milkfish cultivated in Greater Tainan are exported to the US, the Middle East and Europe.
“If we can pry open the Chinese market and ink another contract, then supply pressures during peak season will ease,” he said.
Taiwan’s advantage lies in the high quality and safety of it aquaculture, Wang Chang-hao said, and if the nation manages to develop a group of loyal customers, the future for the industry would be bright.
“However, since most Chinese people are not familiar with milkfish, the fishermen need more government assistance to promote their product ... There should be lots of milkfish tasting events to woo consumers. We should even get a Chinese celebrity to promote milkfish,” he said.
The heads of three major US banks on Wednesday pledged that they would withdraw from the Chinese market if Washington imposed sanctions on Beijing in response to an invasion of Taiwan. JP Morgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, Bank of America chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser told lawmakers at a hearing of the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services in Washington that the three banks would follow the guidance of the US government to exit China if necessary. The three bankers made the pledge after US Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer asked the three if they
HIGH STAKES: An attack on Taiwan could prompt a joint response from the US and Japan, and trigger a global conflict that could bring down the CCP, Liu Tai-ying said The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would not be able to launch an invasion of Taiwan for at least another 10 years, Taiwan Research Institute founder Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英) said on Friday. To occupy Taiwan, China needs to transport at least 300,000 to 400,000 troops across the Taiwan Strait during battle, but it would lack the ability to do so for at least another decade, said Liu, a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) treasurer and a close aide to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). The challenges that China would face during an attempted invasion of Taiwan would be even greater than those
CHINA CRITIC: Prime ministerial candidate Giorgia Meloni, the front-runner in today’s election, said that she would not renew a Belt and Road Initiative deal with Beijing Italian lawmaker Giorgia Meloni, the front-runner to become the country’s next prime minister, is expected to reverse course on Italy’s support for China’s Belt and Road Initiative and strengthen ties with Taiwan if a coalition headed by her party wins the country’s general election today. “Without any doubt, if there is a center-right government, it is sure that Taiwan will be an essential concern for Italy,” Meloni told the Central News Agency in an interview. Italians are to vote in a snap election triggered by the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi following a failed attempt to get his coalition partners
Taiwanese on average first use pornographic material at the age of 14, an international survey found on Wednesday. Researchers at National Cheng Kung University, who conducted the survey in the nation, said 50.2 percent of Taiwanese respondents said they used pornographic material two to three times per month over the past year. Lin Chung-ying (林宗瑩), an associate professor at the university’s Institute of Allied Health Sciences, said the results indicate that Taiwanese are less sexually active than people in other countries, especially in the West. Taiwanese on average masturbate 10 percent less often than respondents from other nations in the survey, Lin said. The
RSS