Photo: Li Hao/GT

Major local supermarkets in Beijing have swiftly removed salmon products from their shelves, including Carrefour and Wumart, after the cutting boards of wholesalers in Beijing's Xinfadi Market detected the novel coronavirus, putting the salmon import business into serious doubt in the short term. 

One anonymous meat wholesaler in Xinfadi told the Global Times on Saturday that their businesses have been suspended and all related staff members are now under quarantine.

"We are closely following the official investigation," an employee of the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) told the Global Times on Saturday.

According to NSC, China was Norway's largest growth market for salmon in 2019, measured in value. Per its statement on May 14, the Chinese market was going very well regarding Norwegian salmon with a 44 percent growth rate in the six weeks since April.

An employee from a Tokugawa Japan restaurant in Beijing told the Global Times, on the condition of anonymity, that they have received a notice to stop selling salmon. The person said all salmon was directly imported from Norway, but currently the supply has been stopped.

China imports about 80,000 tons of salmon every year, mostly from Chile, Norway, Australia and Canada, domestic news site jiemian.com reported.

 "Not only for salmon-related products, inspection and quarantine measures on all imported meat products may see enhanced implementation," Jiao Shanwei, editor-in-chief of agricultural information portal cngrain.com, told the Global Times on Saturyda, adding it's for sure salmon imports will be impacted in the short term.

Jiao noted that currently it's important to strengthen quarantine inspection procedures on meat imports, given that the origin of the coronavirus has not been pinpointed yet.

A chopping board used to cut imported salmon tested positive for novel coronavirus, said Zhang Yuxi, president of Beijing Xinfadi wholesale market, a major food distribution center in Beijing on Friday.

Global Times