VALLETTA, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Nearly three decades after his first trip to China, Malta Fish Farming (MFF) chairman Salvu Ellul expects his company to ship up to 1,000 tonnes of bluefin tuna there this year.
"Opportunity with China will be much stronger for us," Ellul said in a recent interview with Xinhua. MFF is one of Malta's leading producers of farmed Atlantic bluefin tuna.
In 2004, Ellul made his first attempt to export tuna to the Chinese market, on a trip to Beijing. "But it was a bit too early," he recalled, adding that he always believed he would one day sell tuna in China.
That time came in November 2023, when an agreement signed during Maltese Foreign Minister Ian Borg's visit to China gave Maltese farmed bluefin direct access to the Chinese market. The same month, MFF showcased its tuna at the 6th China International Import Expo, where visitors were impressed by the delicacy of the raw meat, Ellul said.
"Now we can sell directly from our factory to China," he said. MFF started delivering to China in 2024 with about 200 tonnes, and this year its factory alone is expected to send 700 to 1,000 tonnes. The company employs over 250 workers and plans to hire more as exports to China grow.
In June 2024, MFF and China's Shandong Ocean Group set up the first China-Malta joint bluefin tuna processing platform, bringing the Chinese ultra-low-temperature processing vessel Ocean Star to Maltese waters.
Ellul said he had long wanted a freezing vessel for his business, while the Chinese side needed a secure supply of fish. "I give that and they give me their security as well. And both together, we have made a great success now," he said.
Ellul described the Ocean Star as the most efficient tuna-freezing vessel in the Mediterranean, processing about 70 tonnes a day. Looking back, he said the hardest part was concluding the deal fast enough to avoid losing a production season. The two sides agreed on the contract in three months and set up the company three months later.
The cooperation is now moving into new areas. MFF has set up a trading company in Shanghai with other partners to develop its fresh tuna business, aiming to deliver fish from Malta to Shanghai daily or weekly, all year round, Ellul said.
Breeding is another area of cooperation. In July, a batch of fertilized bluefin eggs from MFF's farms cleared quarantine in Zhangzhou, in China's Fujian Province, for research purposes.
"That was an ambition from my side," Ellul said. Wild-caught tuna take about seven years to grow, he said, while tuna hatched and raised in China could reach 2 to 5 kg in two years. "And that will be the table fish for the Chinese market," he added, expecting the Fujian project to be on its way to commercial production within five years.
Trade flows both ways. MFF buys bait fish from China, and at the upcoming China Fisheries and Seafood Expo in Qingdao, it hopes to sign agreements to buy more, as well as new sales deals, Ellul said.
On sustainability, Ellul noted that bluefin stocks have recovered and are now healthy under the management of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, and that every fish can be traced from catch to the final client. Next, MFF will work to build its own brand in China, he added.
Business between Europe and China is strong "and it will be stronger," Ellul said.
