WhyTilapia from China Are the Cheapest? An Analysis Based on Statistical Data

摘要

China is the largest producer of tilapia in the world, with total output reaching 1,657,7171 in 2013, accounting for 34 percent of global tilapia production (5,446,8001). Tilapia production in China has steadily increased since 2000, with an average growth rate in the decade of 11.7 percent (Fig. 1). The production in 2013 was 2.63 times of that of 2000.Tilapia ranks sixth in species produced in freshwater aquaculture in China and tilapia production accounts for about 7 percent of the total output from freshwater aquaculture (Fig. 2). Tilapias are mainly farmed in the tropical and subtropical regions ofsouthern coastal China, in the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi and Fujian (Fig. 3). Affected by temperature restrictions on growth, tilapias are thinly distributed in central and northern China and production from these regions only accounts forabout 4 percent of national production.