Analysis of China's eel export trends and strategies

Generally speaking, the prospect analysis of the competitive advantage of an industry needs to start from different levels and structures. Since the reform and opening up, China's economy has developed by leaps and bounds, which are inseparable from the good production environment created by the Chinese government. China's comparative advantages in production and other aspects, coupled with the recent "Belt and Road" advocated by the country, regional economic free trade zone cooperation and RMB joining the SDR, will certainly stimulate the growth of China's exports in all aspects and promote the rapid development of related industries. China is a global eel supplier and has achieved great development during the reform and opening-up period. By studying the current situation of Chinese eel in the global market and the problems faced in the current transformation, we can further expand the global market share of eel, enrich the export mode of fish products, consolidate and strengthen the current comparative advantages, and serve to boost China's economic growth.

Overview of China's global eel exports

The export supply of eel in China is greater than the demand. The world's largest eel farming country is China. The breeding and production of eel is mainly used for export, and has led to the all-round development of eel farming, processing and feed production in China. China's eel industry is mainly concentrated in Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other provinces. In 2001, the output of live eel in China reached a high peak period, with an output of nearly 150,000 tons. Among them, 73,000 tons of roasted eel were exported, creating an exchange rate of about $620 million, and the export of live eel was about 15,000 tons, achieving a foreign exchange of about $160 million. According to the analysis of China's customs statistics, although the export volume of grilled eel products in China reached a high peak around 2001, the average unit price hovered at a low level, with more supply than demand and low economic benefits. Affected by the demand of the Japanese market, the number of exports and unit prices of live eel products have increased significantly since 2004, with the highest increase in exports by three times. According to the statistics of China's eel net, China's eel exports have stabilized in recent years, maintaining at about 32,000 tons per year.

China's eel exports mainly supply Japan. The use value and nutritional value of eel make it popular. The world's largest consumption of eel is Asia, followed by Europe and the United States, among which Japan accounts for about 2/3 of the world's annual consumption of eel. The annual demand for eel in Japan is more than 136,000 tons. The eel produced in China is far from meeting the demand of the domestic market. More than 80% of the imported eel products, and this part of the eel demand gap mainly depends on the import of eel in mainland China and Taiwan. In 1999, Japan's eel imports from China accounted for 90% of its imports. In the following years, despite the impact of Japan's import policy and quality safety, the import volume also accounted for about 70%. In 2000, China's eel industry developed and cultivated emerging markets in the United States. The amount of eel imported from the United States from less than 500 tons in 1997 to about 2,500 tons at present, and the import volume has increased more than three times. Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Denmark, Spain and other European markets are the main exporters of Chinese eel, with an annual consumption of more than 10,000 tons of Chinese eel.

China's eel exports are mainly grilled eels. The types of eels exported from China's eels are mainly grilled eels and live eels, which are relatively single. According to the statistics of China Eel Network, China exported 73,000 tons of grilled eel in 2001, accounting for 83% of the total number of eels, while by 2014, only 27,000 tons, accounting for 82% of the total exports; live eels exported 15,000 tons in 2001, and only 5,800 tons in 2015. Take Japan, which imports the most eel from China, as an example. Japan's annual eel imports account for about 90% of the global eel trade. Its market capacity is increasing year by year, with annual sales of about 100,000 tons. However, in 2014, Japan imported only 13,000 tons of Chinese grilled eel and 0.3,900 tons of live eel. Compared with live eel, the demand for grilled eel is greater, and grilled eel is a more popular variety for consumers.

China's eel exports have declined year by year, and the policy is favorable. Eels are loved by consumers around the world because of their high food value and nutritional value. For example, there is a special eel festival in Japan. Japanese often eat eel rice in winter to protect against the cold. Taiwan regards Double Ninth Festival as the Eel Eating Festival to tell everyone that eels are a symbol of longevity, and eating eels can promote healthy and longevity. The consumer market of eels is mainly in Japan. Japanese eel imports account for about 90% of the total world trade, and now the annual sales volume exceed 100,000 tons. Although China has always maintained the position of the world's eel exports, judging from the recent export volume, it has dropped from 76,000 tons in 2004 to 32,000 tons in 2012, while the number of live eels imported by major importing countries in 2014 was only 5,800 tons, and the export volume of roast eels was 27,000 tons. The total export volume has maintained a relatively stable trend in recent years, and the export scale is not as good as before. However, with the Belt and Road Initiative, the cooperation of the regional economic free trade zone and the accession of RMB to SDR, which has increased the international status of the RMB, the export of the eel industry will usher in a good opportunity for development.

Analysis of problems in China's eel export

（一）There are many exporters, and the competition for homogeneity of products is fierce. China's eel industry is mainly concentrated in Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other provinces. According to the statistics of China's eel net, in 2009, China's employees engaged in breeding, processing, feed, transportation and other related industries reached 500,000 to 600,000, becoming one of the important economic pillars of the local economy. Every year, the normal demand for eel in the Japanese market is about 100,000 tons, and the demand is lower than the actual supply of more than 30,000 tons, and this oversupply mainly comes from mainland China. According to the statistics of China's eel net, there are more than 3,000 eel farms in China. The market demand does not match the scale of breeding, and the scale of breeding is serious. At the same time, the processing capacity exceeds the scale of breeding. There are more than 60 roast eel factories, but the start-up rate is only about 50%. Due to the high output and the high homogeneity of the product, coupled with the competition in other regions, the price of eel has dropped sharply, and even once the price of grilled eel is lower than the price of live eel.

（二）The quality of products is not high, and the risk of enterprises has increased. Over the years, although China has maintained its international status as a major country in eel farming and production, it is mainly reflected in quantity. With the blind expansion of the scale of breeding production, the quality of products has not been improved, resulting in low risk resistance and insufficient adaptability of emergencies. According to incomplete statistics, the scale of eel farming in China has decreased by nearly half since 2009, and more than half of the downstream enterprises of eel farming have been closed down. In addition, with the extensive and rapid development of China's economy, environmental pollution is relatively serious. According to environmental monitoring, the country's untreated sewage is directly discharged into the water body of about 100 million tons per day, and the country is not suitable for fish to live in 1/3 of the water body, and the natural eel farming water plant is seriously threatened. At the same time, considering the factors such as aquaculture personnel and processing personnel, the quality of eel is not effectively guaranteed, which increases the business risk of enterprises.

(三)The sales area is relatively concentrated, and the sales channel is relatively single. In 2013, China exported 5,295 tons of live eel, and Japan imported 3,918 tons, accounting for 84% of China's total exports of live eel. During the same period, China exported a total of 28,600 tons of roasted eels, and Japan imported 13,800 tons, accounting for 48.5% of China's total exports of roasted eel. In 2014, China exported 5,818 tons of live eel, Japan's total imports accounted for 67.8%, China exported 29,200 tons of roasted eel, and Japan's imports accounted for 50.1%. From the above data, it can be seen that China's eel importing country is Japan, and its sales are relatively concentrated. When Japan imposes restrictions on China's eel imports, the number of China's eel exports will drop sharply. The export sales service of eel in China is relatively simple. It is mainly led by import enterprises to order freight, and there are few sales service points of export enterprises abroad. Compared with integrated service products, it is difficult to grasp market expectations and bring relatively large sales risks.

(四)Facing an increase in unfavorable trade technical barriers During this period of China's eel development and prosperity, some countries have introduced a series of measures to restrict the import of Chinese eel in order to protect their eel industry. Taking Japan, the largest export of Chinese eel fish, as an example, Japan has issued a series of drug residue inspections since 2001 for national standard fishing drugs such as ennofloxacin, erythroxin, saladarcin, sulfadine, etc., and has been implemented to this day, but they have not been valued by Chinese eel breeding manufacturers. Since 2006, Japan's drug testing for Chinese gill has increased, and the affirmation list system was officially implemented in Japan on May 29, with as many as 112 testing items for Eel products. During this period, Chinese eel products have been repeatedly checked for mislabel fishing drug residues, resulting in a decline in the status of eel products exported from China in the hearts of Japanese consumers and a shrinking export. At the same time, Europe has introduced import restrictions related to rare European sap. It can be said that there are more and more technical barriers to the export of Eel in our country, and the restrictions are becoming more and more restrictive.

Countermeasures to further improve China's eel exports

Strengthen the functional management and supervision of the government. At present, China's economic development pays more attention to the role of the market in resource allocation, but at the same time, the guiding and standardizing role of the government cannot be ignored. In the first decade of the 21st century, due to the rapid and unreasonable expansion of eel farming export enterprises, the scale of eel production expanded unreasonably, and the supply far exceeded the demand, all of which were the result of the lack of reasonable guidance. The problem of poor water quality in eel farming has also become particularly serious in recent years. Therefore, in terms of eel farming production, relevant government departments should reasonably guide the production scale of enterprises and encourage fair and reasonable competition, but avoid unreasonable competition such as price war caused by overproduction of eel farming; at the same time, they should protect the water resources environment and effectively create a good eel farming ecology. In addition, we should focus on improving the professional literacy of eel farming enterprise personnel and processing personnel, encourage enterprises to introduce advanced production and breeding technology; strictly control the drug inspection of eel products, and encourage enterprises to breed and produce natural and pollution-free green eel products. In terms of exports, the government effectively provides relevant export preferential service policies for eel export enterprises, strengthens trade cooperation with eel importing countries, reduces unnecessary trade technical barriers, and protects the interests of China's eel export enterprises.

In addition to the guidance and supervision of the state and the eel industry association, eel farming, processing and export enterprises must also strengthen their own enterprise management. In response to Japan's strict eel drug inspection and European protection measures for eels, China's exporters should strictly control the various links of eel breeding and the innovative research and development of eel fry. Enterprises should start from their own long-term interests. In the link of eel farming, for aquaculture enterprises with relatively poor conditions, they can try mixed aquaculture. For example, adding a certain amount of fish and shrimp to the eel breeding pond can prolong the eel production cycle by eating fish and shrimp, and the product quality can be close to the wild quality. For qualified enterprises, more scientific eel breeding technology can be cited. For example, in view of the current problems of water pollution and drug inspection residues, breeding enterprises can imitate relevant aquaculture aquaculture to create eel ecological breeding, create an almost wild breeding model, cultivate fine eel varieties with Chinese characteristics and pollution-free, and effectively improve the quality of eel in China. In terms of eel processing, it can follow Japan's food safety tracking system. For example, it adopts QR code technology to strictly control the production circulation link, achieve product prevention identification and rapid handling of product safety incidents, and establish China's excellent eel product image among consumers in importing countries.

Relying on the current national policy orientation, we develop a diversified marketing platform. First, China is currently carrying out "Belt and Road" economic cooperation, and at the same time actively carrying out regional economic free trade zone cooperation among countries. China's eel industry takes this opportunity to increase the publicity of Chinese eel in the economic cooperation region, which can not only publicize the credibility of China's eel products to the outside Japan, but also expand the market outside Japan, expand the export of China's eel products while reducing the extent to which China's eel exports are too dependent on Japanese imports, develop a diversified export market, effectively reduce the export risk of China's eel products, and establish a one-stop eel consumption service platform in export to increase the image of China's eel products. Second, take advantage of China's current great support for the development of cross-border e-commerce to develop the "Internet + eel" model. On the one hand, enterprises can establish their own online trading platforms and create mobile client APPs and micro-platforms, which is not only conducive to promoting enterprise eel products, but also saving transaction time and cost, and developing more convenient and fast sales channels. On the other hand, cross-border e-commerce can act as an independent third-party eel export agency. The platform can not only use customer big data to provide product demand feedback, but also cooperate with its own vertical sales channels to form closed product trade services. Finally, it is beneficial to use RMB to join the SDR and the 13th Five-Year Plan, cooperate with the national agricultural product international development strategy, cultivate and produce internationally recognized eel products, and create eel products with Chinese characteristics.

Set up a special eel festival to vigorously promote eel products. Nowadays, the market competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and "the fragrance of wine is afraid of deep alleys". No matter how good the products are, they also need good product publicity and cooperation. Therefore, export enterprises should do the following publicity: First, eel, as a high-level nutritious food, is not really understood by consumers. Enterprises rely on the characteristics of fish oil, calcium, unsaturated fatty acids and other nutrient content in eels to locate different consumers to publicize the benefits of eating eels. Second, vigorously promote eel products for specific festivals, such as Japan's Summer Ugly Day Eel Festival, enterprises can also jointly set up a special eel festival. At the same time, they can imitate the successful promotion model of Taobao platform to promote eel promotion and sales. Finally, actively participate in eel exchange meetings and exhibitions, promote the reputation of Chinese eel products among countries, and expand the global popularity and sales of eels. ( Source: China Eel Network)