The world's first 150,000-deadweight tonnage (DWT) smart aquaculture vessel Guoxin 2-1, a floating fish farm, is under construction in Qingdao City of east China's Shandong Province, and set to be operational in 2025.
The mega vessel measures 245 meters in length and 45 meters in width. It has 15 breeding cabins, each larger than two standard swimming pools. As a sister ship of "Guoxin 1", "Guoxin 2-1" has carried out more than 160 optimizations and innovations in terms of functional layout and new energy utilization.
Guoxin 1 has sailed for nearly 14,000 nautical miles to the Yellow Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea where different fish can be cultivated in their ideal temperatures and produced 2,700 tons of yellow croakers since its launch in May 2022.
"While retaining the hoisting method, we have employed an approach of side entry to send fish fry into the cabin. Holes are added on ship's side so that the fish fry can be directly transported to the breeding cabins, which greatly improves the efficiency and also reduces the damage rate," said Tian Neidong, a project director of Guoxin China Shipbuilding Qingdao Marine Technology.
In order to realize intelligent fish farming, the tanks are centrally controlled. Operations on board the ship are monitored with underwater cameras, sensors and a self-feeding system, as well as connectivity with the company's shore-based offices to monitor the fish.
The fish rearing density in the tanks is four to six times higher than in traditional aquaculture cages and the aquaculture cycle is shortened by 30 percent. In addition, the fish survival rate and the rate of weight gain are also increased.
"We have installed more than 2,000 sensors in various areas of the ship, which can transmit different data such as water temperature, water quality, and oxygen content in the breeding cabins to the monitoring room in real time, and then transmit it to the shore-based monitoring center through the ship-shore integrated system, realizing the interconnection between the aquaculture vessels and the land, and among the aquaculture ships," said Tian.
World's first 150,000-DWT offshore fish farming vessel to go operational in 2025
Holiday cheer is building across China, with seasonal products driving a boom in the consumer market, as the Dragon Boat Festival and its holiday are approaching.
The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Duanwu Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. This year, the festival falls on June 19, with the three-day holiday running through June 21.
In Shanghai, many time-honored food brands have entered their peak sales season. Classic varieties of zongzi, the sticky rice dumplings, with fillings such as pork and red bean remain strong sellers. At the same time, many vendors in the city have also introduced innovative flavors to attract customers. New offerings such as black glutinous rice with red bean paste zongzi have proven particularly popular.
In major grocery stores across Lanzhou City, northwest China's Gansu Province, zongzi incorporating local specialty ingredients, such as lily bulbs and roses, have become top choices for shoppers.
Beyond festive foods, traditional customs are also driving seasonal demand. The Dragon Boat Festival is typically marked by the hanging of mugwort and calamus - a custom believed to ward off illness and evil spirits.
In Qidong City, east China's Jiangsu Province, mugwort farms have entered their busiest harvest period of the year, as they are producing more than 100,000 bundles daily for shipment to major supermarkets across the Yangtze River Delta region.
To the southwest of Qidong, Kunming City in Yunnan Province has seen a growing demand for festival-themed plants, such as calamus, fragrant wood and craspedia. The city's largest online fresh flower wholesale platform reported sales of 295,000 bundles of Dragon Boat Festival flowers so far this month, double the volume recorded during the same period last year.
In addition, local governments across China have also rolled out various service measures to ensure smooth operation of cultural and tourism markets during the holiday period.
East China's Fujian Province will offer more than 350 cultural and tourism activities and over 120 public welfare measures during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.
Multiple scenic spots in south China's Guangdong Province have activated holiday support mechanisms to extend store operating hours and optimize time-slot reservations to enhance visitor experience.
Up north, in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, cultural and tourism consumption vouchers worth 15 million yuan (about 2.1 million U.S. dollars) have been issued for key sectors such as major scenic areas, hotels, homestays and cultural entertainment venues to further stimulate holiday spending.
Dragon Boat Festival spurs seasonal sales as festive atmosphere builds
