How a single fish roe connects the world

en.hainan.gov.cn

Updated: 2026-07-06

From the deep seas off Russia, a highly prized fish roe once took more than six months to arrive at the dining tables in China — but nowadays that journey has been shortened to just 40 days.

"Thanks to the policy dividends of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), small and medium-sized enterprises like ours no longer have to go through multiple levels of distributors," said Jiang Renjie, general manager of local seafood producer Hainan Nanyang Food Co Ltd, while inspecting a newly arrived batch of Russian pollock roe.

"We can now purchase directly from the source," Jiang said at the company's factory in Taling Industrial Park, Ding'an county, located in China's southernmost Hainan province.

Since 2020, the company, whose parent company is based in East China's Shandong province, has expanded into pollock roe and salmon roe processing by leveraging more than 30 years of technical expertise. It's rapidly grown into one of China's leading processors of fish roe products — supplying major Japanese restaurant chains and large supermarket retailers nationwide.

Behind the journey of each and every single fish roe lies a broader story of how businesses are achieving new growth by taking advantage of the opportunities being created by the Hainan FTP.

Policy support shortens supply chains, cuts costs

Three years ago, imported Russian fish roe followed a lengthy procurement route before reaching Nanyang Food's factory in Ding'an: Russian ports, large distribution centers in South Korea, multiple layers of distributors, and finally the processing plant.

"This process not only increased raw materials costs through multiple markups, but also extended procurement cycles, reduced product freshness and made it difficult to secure the highest-quality fish roe," Jiang said while observing the production line.

"Since last year, however, we've no longer needed to rely on the traditional procurement route," he added.

The new supply chain has been shortened to a much simpler route: Russian ports, distribution centers in South Korea, and directly to the factory in Ding'an, eliminating multiple intermediaries.

This transformation has been made possible by the policy advantages of the Hainan FTP. Beginning in 2024, under the guidance of local authorities, the company became a pilot enterprise eligible for the Hainan FTP value-added processing duty exemption policy and now it enjoys the corresponding preferential treatment.

"Previously, procurement costs were too high for small and medium-sized enterprises, so we had to rely on large companies making bulk overseas purchases," Jiang said.

"With the tariff incentives now available, our costs have been significantly reduced, enabling us to purchase directly from distribution centers in South Korea," the general manager added.

The opportunities being created by the Hainan FTP are also attracting Russian suppliers to view Hainan as an important gateway to the Chinese market.

In early June, representatives from Russian Fishery Company and Sigma Marine Technology of Russia visited Hainan and conducted on-site inspections and business discussions with Nanyang Food, taking bilateral cooperation to a new stage.

"In the future, we will become the processing partner for both companies, and our products will be supplied to their partner restaurant chains across China," Jiang said.

"Our next procurement route for Russian fish roe will be further shortened to 'Russia–Ding'an'. The time from raw material procurement to finished products reaching the market has already been reduced from more than six months to 40 days, and both the processing time and costs are expected to decline even further," he added.

Boosting capacity, targeting 'two ends outside' model

For Nanyang Food, the policy incentives have translated directly into rapid production growth.

In 2024, the company's annual fish roe output exceeded 30 metric tons. In 2025 — benefiting from lower costs under the preferential policies and a sharp increase in market orders — annual production more than tripled.

During the same period, the company successfully entered the more technically demanding salmon roe processing business — expanding from processing only pollock roe to processing both pollock roe and salmon roe.

"The company's annual production capacity is expected to reach between 150 and 200 tons in 2026," Jiang said. "In addition to supplying major Japanese restaurant chains and large supermarket retailers across China, we also plan to further expand into various domestic catering businesses and Southeast Asian markets".

Inside the production workshop, every stage of fish roe processing operates in an orderly manner — including ultraviolet impurity removals, saltwater sterilization, seasoning preparation, automated membrane removals, packaging and rapid freezing.

"This batch of more than 20 tons of pollock roe will be processed and released to the market in three separate installments, with each installment requiring about two weeks," Jiang said.

According to Jiang, the selected Russian fish roe features thin egg membranes that melt in the mouth. After seasoning, the product offers an enhanced flavor and can be consumed directly, served over rice or used as an ingredient in sushi and other Japanese dishes.

Maintaining freshness depends heavily on advanced refrigeration equipment. To handle its continuously growing production capacity, the company invested over 20 million yuan ($2.95 million) in 2025 to introduce internationally advanced eco-friendly cooling technology.

"Compared with traditional Freon-based refrigeration systems, this equipment uses carbon dioxide as the cooling medium," Jiang said. "As the carbon dioxide evaporates, it removes heat efficiently, maintaining the low temperatures required for product quality while significantly reducing energy consumption".

Supported by both favorable policies and green technologies, the company is now planning broader industrial expansion.

"We are continuing to advance the third phase of our cross-border processing and integrated logistics base project," Jiang said.

"By taking advantage of the Hainan FTP policies, we plan not only to expand our international trade business, but also to continuously increase the range of products processed under the 'two ends outside' model," the executive added.

At the same time, the company plans to make greater use of Hainan's local agricultural resources. Leveraging its well-established domestic and international sales networks, it intends to process locally produced calamansi, Chinese yams, yellow cassava and other specialty agricultural products into juices, yam puree, cassava cakes and other value-added products — helping more Hainan specialties to reach overseas markets.