Russian Commercial Representative to China Alexei Dakhnovsky said in an interview with SPUTNIK that in 2022, Russia's seafood exports to China increased by as much as 48.2%.

Dakhnovsky said that China's lifting of relevant epidemic prevention restrictions has promoted Russia's export of seafood to China.

He introduced that, for example, Dalian and Qingdao banned the import of bulk fish at the end of 2020. As a result, in the first quarter of 2021, Russian seafood exports to China fell by 55%. Of course, containerized imports were allowed at the time and the supply chain was restructured. Thus, by the end of 2021, Russian exports resumed and even increased by almost 1% (to $1.86 billion) for the whole year.

The Russian business representative continued: "At the beginning of 2022, the ban on bulk fish transportation will be lifted, and Russia's seafood exports to China will not increase by 1%, but as high as 48.2%."

The Russian Commercial Representative Office in China pointed out that after China's latest comprehensive lifting of restrictions, frozen and refrigerated foods no longer need to be "quarantined" in cold storage facilities strictly regulated by China's "entry point". Negative nucleic acid test reports and disinfection certificates are no longer required for any product.

Dakhnovsky said: "Thanks to the abolition of the 'Three Certificates for the Cold Chain', there is hope for the resumption of domestic customs transit - that is, quarantine and customs clearance not at the border, but in the country. This system also makes Russian meat It is possible for products to be imported through checkpoints that are not such products, which shortens the delivery distance.”

According to the data of the Russian Commercial Representative Office, the main cold chain products China imports from Russia are seafood. According to the Russian representative office, by the end of 2022, the supply of seafood has increased by 48.2% to 2.75 billion US dollars, which is slightly less than half of all Russian agricultural exports to China. Of this, the supply of pollock was $750 million, crab nearly $710 million, other crustaceans $180 million and cod $483 million.

The second most popular cold chain product is meat—beef and chicken. The category's supply rose 36 percent to nearly $555 million. Chicken exports rose more than 50 percent to nearly $403 million, while beef rose 8 percent to nearly $147 million.