[2][3] Aquaculture is the farming of fish and other aquatic life in enclosures, such as ponds, lakes and tanks, or cages in rivers and coastal waters.

[2] China's 2005 reported catch of wild fish, caught in rivers, lakes, and the sea, was 17.1 million tonnes.

The principal aquaculture-producing regions are close to urban markets in the middle and lower Yangtze Valley and the Zhu Jiang Delta.

[8] The ban had a productive outcome, because it resulted in the development of polyculture, growing multiple species in the same ponds.

[12] However, in the late 1960s the Chinese government began a move to the modern induced breeding technologies, which has resulted in a rapid expansion of freshwater aquaculture in China.

The effect of this, together with further technological advances, has been to move Chinese aquaculture towards industrial scale levels of production.

In 2005, exports, including aquatic plants, were valued at US$7.7 billion, with Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea as the main markets.

[19] In recent times, China has extended its skills in culturing pond system to open waters such as lakes, rivers, reservoirs and channels, by incorporating cages, nets and pens.

[16] Species introduced from other parts of the world are also being farmed, such as rainbow trout, tilapia, paddle fish, toad catfish, silver salmon, river perch, roach and Collossoma brachypomum.

Since these data are based on less than half of all turtle farms registered with the appropriate regulating agencies (i.e., 684 out of 1,499), it was estimated that the overall herds and production amounts are at least twice as high.

[20] Since 1990s, research and experimentation have been conducted in China for remediation and utilization of alkali land via combined agriculture and aquaculture practices, with considerable success and experiences.

There are about 1.33 million hectares of marine cultivable areas in China, including shallow seas, mudflats and bays.

Before 1980, less than nine percent of these areas were cultivated, and species were mainly confined to kelp, laver (Porphyra) and mussels.

[16] Since the 1980s, the government has encouraged the introduction of different marine species, including the large shrimp or prawn Penaeus chinensis, as well as scallop, mussel, sea bream, abalone, grouper, tilapia and the mud mangrove crab Scylla serrata.

Watson and Pauly suggested this may have been related to Chinese policies where state entities that monitored the economy were also tasked with increasing output.

The official Xinhua News Agency quoted Yang Jian, director general of the Agriculture Ministry's Bureau of Fisheries, as saying that China's figures were "basically correct".