High-quality development of aquaculture in China: Policy evolution, practical challenges, and system construction

Over the past few decades, aquaculture has consistently been the fastest-growing sector in global agriculture and remains a key provider of high-quality protein and nutritional support for the world’s population. China’s aquaculture industry has maintained its position as the world’s largest for many consecutive years, serving as an absolute pillar of the country’s fishery economy. Currently, China’s aquaculture industry is at a critical stage of transitioning from scale expansion to quality improvement, confronting multiple practical challenges during this transformation. Through policy review, literature analysis, field research, and industry data analysis, this paper identifies six major issues constraining the high-quality development of China’s aquaculture: conflicts between breeding rights and property rights; bottlenecks in key aquaculture technologies; imbalances in human resource structure; inadequate financial and insurance support systems; insufficient industrial chain robustness; and structural contradictions between new productive forces and the industrial ecosystem. Based on a comparison of international experiences, this paper proposes corresponding suggestions. By tracing the evolution of policies supporting high-quality aquaculture development and thoroughly analyzing current institutional, technical, and structural barriers, this paper attempts to establish a support system capable of fostering new productive forces and adapting to emerging demands. This research not only contributes to China’s food security and rural revitalization but also offers policy references for the sustainable development of global aquaculture.