This is significant given how real estate developers, riding China’s frenzied urbanization, have provided a steady source of customers for China’s high-end seafood restaurants. The signs of real estate-fueled wealth are obvious in the Bohai Bay port city of Yantai, but so too are the effects of the credit curbs. Built by one of China’s largest real estate developers, Shimao, the “Above the Clouds” high-rise luxury apartment development under construction will “rewrite the latitude of wealth in Yantai” according to an advert in the Yantai Daily newspaper. Construction however is only half-complete, a year behind schedule.
However, government’s piecemeal easing of interest rates and banks’ lending allowances this year have loosened up credit for the real estate sector, traditionally the driver of China’s economy. Housing prices and sales numbers have both been inching up again and this will encourage developers to start building again.
Even if an economic pick-up is around the corner, in the meantime China’s restaurants are feeling the pinch. In the prosperous south coastal city of Xiamen, more than 18 percent of restaurants fail and close on a monthly basis, according to the Chinese Cuisine Association (CCA), which described the figure as the worst in a decade.
A key reason may be rents, rising due to government restrictions on home purchases.
“Even as the property sector has cooled, rents went up 20 percent in the past year. This is because people are not buying real estate so there’s more competition for rentals,” according to the maitre d’ at the spacious Shandong Shui Chan restaurant in the Beijing Central Park residential-commercial complex.
Restaurateurs in Beijing point to wages and rents as key factors: The former has risen threefold in the past eight years, said proprietors. Rents since 2008 have risen by a similar amount. Having to pay higher wages and rents is especially difficult for eateries catering to the majority of Beijing residents who earn the city’s average wage of RMB 2,500 a month.
Input costs by contrast may be more negotiable, said one restaurateur who wouldn’t disclose his seafood suppliers. Beijing restaurateurs are incredibly wary about discussing the geographic sources of their seafood — bass and shrimp, for instance, are described as “Asian” on some menus. There’s anecdotal evidence from visits to Beijing fish markets that fish served at premium import prices are in fact produced in China, in effect allowing restaurateurs greater margins.
A stall holder at the Sanyuanli wet market in Beijing, popular with hoteliers and restaurateurs, explained how his key sellers are garoupa, mackerel and bass (RMB 35, RMB 15 and RMB 18 per 500 grams, respectively).
“The bass comes from Fujian or Qingdao, it’s all local…I know these are popular with western- style restaurants but this is Chinese product for sure, not imported.” Likewise, the snapper priced at RMB 30 per 500 grams is locally produced, explained Wang Ge, who buys his fish from wholesalers and distributors as well as carp producers near Beijing.
Others are downgrading prices. The usually upscale Shunfung Seafood Restaurant chain has promised to start offering value lunch sets. A branch of the restaurant in Beijing, popular with government officials and diplomats, offers a selection of grouper (RMB 380 to RMB 480 per fish), Atlantic cod (varies from RMB 120 to RMB 300 according to dish) and South African oysters (RMB 56 a piece).
Fast-food chains have benefited, to some extent in a slower economy. KFC, with 3,900 outlets across China, has seen revenues rise in the first half of 2012 but the chain has also complained that its profits have fallen due to higher costs (including rent) and wages. Worried about more restaurant closures, the CCA has requested government to cut taxes on restaurants.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The year 2025 marked a pivotal milestone for Vietnam’s seafood industry in its restructuring process toward sustainability, transparency, and higher value creation, amid continued uncertainties in the global economic and trade environment. Prolonged inflation in major economies, the rising trend of trade protectionism, and increasingly stringent requirements related to environmental standards, traceability, and social responsibility have posed significant challenges to seafood production and exports. Nevertheless, overcoming these pressures, Vietnam’s seafood sector has gradually demonstrated its adaptability, maintained growth momentum, and laid an important foundation for the next stage of development.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Amid the increasingly evident impacts of drought and saltwater intrusion, the shrimp-rice production model in Ca Mau province continues to prove itself as a viable direction, contributing to higher farmer incomes, improved soil conditions and the promotion of ecological and sustainable agricultural development.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The management of fishing vessels, monitoring of fishing activities, and handling of violations in the fisheries sector in Lam Dong province have continued to be implemented in a synchronized and stringent manner, contributing to raising awareness of legal compliance among fishermen and aiming to end illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Can Tho’s fishery industry sustained steady growth in 2025 with total aquatic and marine output reaching nearly 783,000 tons, fulfilling 100% of the annual target. Aquaculture, capture fisheries and fishing fleet management were further strengthened, aiming for sustainable development in the coming years.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In 2025, Vietnam’s pangasius export turnover reached nearly USD 2.2 billion, up 8% year-on-year. This result indicates that pangasius exports maintained their growth momentum despite significant volatility in the global market environment. In December 2025, pangasius export value reached USD 200 million, up 10% compared to December 2024. This solid performance in the final month of the year reflects increased import demand for consumption and inventory replenishment in key markets.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In 2025, Vietnam’s tuna exports to Spain experienced significant fluctuations. According to Vietnam Customs, during the first 11 months of 2025, export turnover for the first 11 months of the year edged up by 0.3% year-on-year, reaching nearly $15 million.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son has signed Decision No. 16/QD-TTg, dated January 5, 2026, approving the implementation plan for the Vietnam-Israel Free Trade Agreement (VIFTA). Under the plan, in the coming period, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated entities and People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities must institutionalize and execute tasks focused on the dissemination of information regarding VIFTA and the Israeli market; legislative and institutional development, as well as enhancing competitiveness and human resource growth...
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Beyond achieving double-digit growth, Vietnam’s fish cake and surimi exports are showing a notable year-end "inflection point": the EU his accelerating with nearly twofold growth, China & Hong Kong are rising sharply, while the largest market, South Korea, signaled a slowdown in November. According to Vietnam Customs data, export turnover of fish cake and surimi reached $327 million in the first 11 months of 2025, up 22% year-on-year; November 2025 alone accounted for $35 million, marking a 5% increase. This serves as a critical foundation for exporters to reassess market structures and competitive intensity while finalizing order strategies for 2026.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Ca Mau, widely regarded as the nation’s “shrimp capital”, continued its strong performance in 2025 as shrimp output reached nearly 600,000 tons, maintaining its position as Vietnam’s leading shrimp-producing locality.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On December 29, 2025, at the 2025 Pangasius Industry Review Conference held in Can Tho City, the Vietnam Pangasius Association announced that fingerling prices have surged to record levels due to acute supply shortages.
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