Hubei also sells its fish to the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan Province.

Blessed with a vast area of rivers and lakes and dubbed "a country of rice and fish," Hubei has long led China's freshwater fish production. Its output was 2.7 million tons last year.

The aquatics industry has continued to grow rapidly in the province in recent years, according to Gao Zexiong, a local official in charge of the sector.

Hubei has 500,250 hectares for breeding aquatic animals, some 11.1 percent of China's total, and up 10 percentage points from the level in 1978 when the country launched its reform and opening-up drive.

Now the province sells 40 percent of its aquatic products overseas, earning US$20 million annually.

Meanwhile, Hubei is the largest fry supplier in China with an annual output of 40 billion fry, 25 percent of which are sold outside the province.

Since Hubei's agricultural economy was restructured, the aquatics industry has become the fastest growing sector, according to the provincial statistics bureau.

It provides the highest cash income for farmers. Last year, of the 92 yuan (US$11.08) annual increase in per-capita income for farmers in Hubei, 23 yuan (US$2.77) came from aquatic products.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2003)