Zhanjiang recently passed the second review for its title "the Capital of Prawns in China," with the awarding ceremony to be held on Aug 18 during this year's China International Aquatic Products Exposition.

The title was first awarded by the China Aquatic Product Processing and Marketing Alliance in 2010, and shall be valid for five years.

The review group, which is composed of experts from the China Aquatic Product Processing and Marketing Alliance, spoke highly of Zhanjiang's efforts in boosting the development of the prawn industry.

The prawn industry in Zhanjiang has a solid industrial foundation, boasts notable progress in industrial transformation and upgrading, as well as has realized sustainable industrial development with the support of policies and science, according to the expert group.

Aquatic and marine products are one of the three traditional industries in Zhanjiang. A number of policies, including special support funds, have been launched by the city to boost the development of this industry.

In addition, the city has been holding the annual China International Aquatic Products Exposition since 2014, which also boosts sales of prawns.

Zhanjiang has topped the country in seven aspects of the prawn industry for many years, namely breeding area, feed, seedlings, output, processing scale, export, and professional market.

There are currently nearly 500 prawn seedling farms, more than 16,000 culturing farms, and 33 prawn processing enterprises that have obtained export health registration in Zhanjiang. It also boasts the nation's largest prawn professional trading market.

In 2019, a total of 250,000 metric tons of prawns were cultivated in the city, with an output value of about 6 billion yuan ($846.46 million).

The city's export value of aquatic and marine products in 2019 reached $600 million, of which $460 million were from prawns, accounting for about 30 percent of the nation's total.

Four prawn industrial clusters that integrate production and export functions have been initially formed in Zhanjiang.