China and Kiribati sign closer fishing ties, including agreement covering disputed maritime family

Tarawa, July 12, 2024 (SeafoodSource) – China and the Pacific island nation of Kiribati have signed a memorandum of understanding on the “Blue Partnership”.

The agreement was signed after Kiribati Fisheries and Marine Resources Development Minister Ribanatak Siwo met with Sun Shuxian, director of the State Oceanic Administration and vice minister of natural resources of China, during his visit to Beijing on July 1.

According to Chinese media reports on the visit, Siwo welcomed China’s provision of technical support and capacity training for Kiribati’s marine area and resource mapping and research.

Kiribati has been receiving Chinese aid for fisheries, infrastructure and medical services since it severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2019. Beijing is crucial to the votes of Kiribati and other Pacific island nations at international conferences such as the United Nations. China provides a large amount of aid to these countries through its China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA).

In 2021, China sent aquaculture trainers to Kiribati from Hubei Province, a major region for freshwater aquaculture production. Also in 2021, Kiribati’s then-Minister of Fisheries, Ribanataake Tiwau, was one of the speakers at the first China-Pacific Island Countries Fisheries Cooperation and Development Forum. The theme of the forum was “Creating New Prospects for Fisheries Cooperation between China and Pacific Island Countries.”

China’s growing interest in Kiribati has alarmed the United States, which pledged in 2021 to open an embassy in Kiribati, an island 1,340 miles south of Honolulu, Hawaii. However, China’s efforts to forge a regional security and trade agreement in the Pacific were rebuffed by the Pacific Islands Forum in 2022. In response, Kiribati withdrew from the Pacific Islands Forum and opened the Phoenix Islands Reserve to fishing, shortly thereafter receiving $66 million (€61 million) in funding from China.

Kiribati has one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world, covering 3.5 million square kilometers, and is also home to one of the richest tuna fisheries in the world.

These fisheries have been targeted by Chinese fishing companies, including Zhejiang Jiayang Fisheries, which signed a $100 million cooperation agreement with the Kiribati government in 2021. Since then, the company appears to be deepening its economic ties with Kiribati.

In April 2024, Ocean Family General Manager Shen Zhijun attended a meeting held at the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute in China, which was chaired by Kiribati Ambassador to China Ribetta Abeta. At the meeting, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Kiribati signed a memorandum of understanding on fishery cooperation, covering fishery resource assessment, sustainable aquaculture, high-value seafood processing and fishery-related technical training… PACNEWS

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