Chinese Freshwater aquaculture: A comparative analysis of the competitiveness on regional aquaculture industries

The aquaculture industry in China is not complete without the freshwater industry. The scientific assessment of the regional competitiveness of the freshwater aquaculture industry has significant theoretical and practical implications for fostering the industry's sustainable development. Based on the diamond model, this study developed a competitiveness evaluation index system for Chinese freshwater aquaculture industry which included six primary indicators and sixteen secondary indicators. The primary indicators included resource endowment, production capacity, science and technology promotion capacity, related and supporting industries, market demand and guiding development policy. The study analyzed freshwater aquaculture industrial competitiveness during 2012–2020 and classified the Chinese 18 major freshwater aquaculture provinces into five competitive levels. The results showed that the development of related and supporting industries has the greatest contribution to the competitiveness, followed by resource endowment and market demand capacity. The analysis and tier classification showed that the competitiveness of Jiangsu Province and Hubei Province has always been at the forefront, and the province of Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Anhui, Liaoning, and Guangxi were above the middle level. Moreover, the results indicated that the competitiveness of most provinces showed an upward trend.