Facing dwindling domestic demand and potential new tariffs in the U.S., some Chinese seafood firms have begun to cast their attention toward Southeast Asia.
Guangdon, China-based Guolian Aquatic and Guangdong Evergreen – a conglomerate which produces and processes fish, shrimp, and aquafeed, – have targeted Indonesia as a location that may be able to offer more consistently lucrative business.
Representatives from both firms recently joined a Chinese trade delegation in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, attempting to take advantage of Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto’s promises to turbocharge the Indonesian economy by, among other strategies, opening the doors to Chinese investment.
Elected in October, Subianto chose Beijing as the destination for his first overseas trip as president, following that up with a trip to the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C.
The new president has vowed to lift annual GDP growth to 8.8 percent during his five-year term, an increase on the 5 percent GDP growth the country saw in 2023 that already makes Indonesia one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
As the world’s fourth-most populous country and largest economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, Indonesia is an attractive market to food companies up and down the value chain.
Sun Shangbin, the vice president of the China Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia, said during a recent conference in Jakarta that “rapid growth” of Indonesia’s economy has resulted in local consumers’ demand for high-quality and diversified catering has “increased rapidly,” creating openings for Chinese suppliers of food products.