As Chinese consumers' incomes rise and lifestyles change, the demand for imported seafood is still growing rapidly. According to a recent Rabobank report, China's seafood import market is expected to reach $29 billion (26 billion euros) by 2030, and salmon producers in Norway and Chile will have the opportunity to benefit from it.

"This will help salmon achieve good sales performance in the Chinese market, and there is still a lot of room for growth in the retail market," said Novel Sharma, an analyst at Rabobank.

There appears to be an opportunity for companies that can use social media as a tool to serve the value-added retail market, as younger urban consumers increasingly embrace Western concepts and prefer convenient and time-saving dining options at home, the report said.

China's ongoing urbanisation is boosting consumer spending power and business opportunities, and the prosperity gap between emerging cities such as Chengdu, Dalian, Nanjing, Qingdao and Wuhan and established cities such as Beijing and Shanghai is narrowing.

Analysts note that as consumers become more affluent, they are experimenting with new species and product types, noting that much of the growth is likely to come from outside traditional food and beverage outlets. "I do think there's more untapped potential in retail and e-commerce."

Mr Sharma said that while Chile had rebuilt its salmon supply chain to China in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Norway was gaining market share after "doing a very good job of marketing the product".

According to the Rabobank report, China could become a seafood import market worth $29 billion (26 billion euros) by 2030, up nearly 50 percent from today.

According to the Rabobank report, China is expected to drive 40 percent of global seafood consumption growth by 2030, an increase of more than 5.5 million tons. Sharma says this growth will also create opportunities for non-mainstream species, depending on how they are marketed and targeted.

With domestic production focused on low-value varieties such as carp, export opportunities to China could be significant, especially given supply-side constraints such as workers shifting to higher-paying industries, environmental constraints and resource scarcity, Mr Sharma said.

In the long run, China is likely to focus on producing higher value seafood varieties, while offshore, onshore and overseas investments may be the solution to meet the growing demand for seafood, the analyst said.

Sharma noted, however, that it will take time for these potential production shifts to generate enough production to have a significant impact on overall seafood consumption in China. "At least until the end of the decade, growth from a value perspective will come from imports," the analyst said.