Published : 06/02/2026
Unadon, or grilled eel rice bowl, is one of the most popular Japanese dishes, but do you know that the eel you eat in Japan very likely comes from China. Currently, about 80% of the eels on the Japanese market are imported from China, with the majority of them produced in the provinces of Guangdong and Fujian.
Why is the eel, with its "legendary origins," known as "soft gold in water"? And how has China become the world's number one country for eel farming and export?
China has become the world's largest producer and exporter of eels
The main ingredient used in Japanese-style kabayaki eels(grilled eel) and grilled eel rice bowl is the "Japanese eel" (also called Anguilla japonica).
Compared to saltwater eels (such as the white-spotted conger, known as "anago" in Japan), the Japanese eel lives most of its life in freshwater. Rich in fat with succulent flesh, it is therefore the primary ingredient used for kabayaki.
The Japanese people's love for eel has made them the world's largest consumer of eel, which in turn has created the impression that eel is a Japanese specialty. Japan's annual demand for eel reaches about 50,000 to 60,000 tonnes, but the quantity of domestically produced eel in Japan can hardly meet such a huge demand.
According to statistics, about 80% of Japan's eel supply in recent years has been imported from China, including live eels and kabayaki eels. In other words, the eel that you eat in Japan has a high chance of being from China.
China also has a long history of eating eel, but its large-scale modernisation of farming started later than in Japan and South Korea.
China introduced eel farming technology in the 1970s, and entered a phase of rapid development around 1995. However, around 2008, factors such as food safety, technical barriers, and the international financial crisis once caused the domestic eel industry to experience a sharp decline.
After weathering many storms, China has now become the world's largest country for eel farming and export, with its eel farming output accounting for about 80% of the global total, and an annual eel export volume of about 50,000 to 60,000 tonnes.
Located on China's southeastern coast, Guangdong Province and Fujian Province are both major provinces for eel farming and export in China. The annual eel production of each province reaches about 90,000 to 110,000 tonnes; the combined eel production of Guangdong and Fujian accounts for over 80% of the national total.
Places such as Fuqing City (福清市) in Fujian Province, and Taishan City (台山市) and Shunde City (順德市) in Guangdong Province, are all recognised as China's "hometowns of eels". The eels farmed and processed here are exported to countries such as Japan and South Korea.
Although the eel production of Guangdong and Fujian is almost on par, their eel species, farming models and areas, and export types are different, creating a complementary relationship.
For example, Guangdong's eel industry focuses on farming and live eels, with its live eel exports accounting for 80% of the national total; Fujian, on the other hand, mainly exports grilled eels.
However, the rise of "China-made eels" was not all plain sailing, and part of the reason is related to the "mysterious" nature of eels themselves.
The mystery of the eel's growth?
Eels are migratory fish and can be farmed artificially, but artificially breeding the next generation of them is far more difficult than for other fish. The key problem is that it is difficult to get adult eels to spawn and for the eggs to hatch successfully in an artificial environment at present.
They must undergo a migration process across the ocean for their gonads to mature. Therefore, at present, the only way is to first catch wild fry from the sea and then raise them artificially.
Eels are born deep in the distant Mariana Trench. As the young fry grow, they follow the ocean currents back to live in freshwater rivers and lakes. After reaching maturity, they swim back to the ocean to spawn and then die.
When the eel fry migrate back to the shore, they are already two years old, but weigh only 0.15 grams, equivalent to the weight of three drops of water, so at this stage they are also called "glass eels".
Eels not only have high requirements for water quality, water volume, water temperature, and light, but their life cycle is also quite complex. Therefore, during the process of artificial farming, the slightest mistake in any step can lead to the eels' death.
To make matters worse, their living habits are very secretive, making observation and research very difficult, which also poses a considerable challenge to artificial farming.
As mentioned earlier, at present, artificially farming eels can only be done by first catching wild fry. Then the question arises: what do you feed them after they are caught?
The difficult part is that eels are "picky eaters". No one knows what they eat during their long migration in their natural environment.
Therefore, in the process of artificial farming, the initial feed that gets them to "open their mouths" for the first time – the "first-feeding diet" – has become the key to the survival of the eel fry.
Development of China's eel industry: Breaking the technological barriers for feed
China's eel industry started relatively late. Over several decades, it went through many hardships and efforts before breaking the technological monopoly of countries like Japan and South Korea and growing rapidly.
Taking the starter feed mentioned above as an example, after long-term research, the Japanese eel farming industry had already developed a starter feed in 2004, but it sold for over 200,000 RMB per tonne.
Chinese technical experts then conducted in-depth investigations and research, and successively overcame a series of technical difficulties with the starter feed, such as raw material selection, nutritional ratios, and palatability.
Finally, in 2008, China successfully developed a domestic eel starter feed with independent intellectual property rights, breaking the technological monopoly and making it possible to carry out large-scale eel farming domestically.
Moreover, compared to the imported feed costing over 200,000 RMB, the China-made starter feed costs only 60,000 to 80,000 RMB per tonne; not only is the price cheaper, the nutritional absorption rate of the the China-made starter feed is also higher.
Of course, starter feed is just one part of artificial eel farming, and the research surrounding eel breeding and farming is a long process. In 2023, the eel was listed as one of the first targets of the National Aquatic Breeding Joint Research Programme; in 2024, eel fry breeding was once again included in the national plan.
Achieving the shift from exports to domestic sales
In addition to establishing technical barriers, from the 1990s onwards, Japan, for the purpose of trade protection, also raised monitoring standards for eel imports and adopted stricter inspection measures. At that time, 80% of China's eels were exported to Japan, and were therefore greatly affected.
At that time, facing increasingly difficult exports, the Chinese eel industry withstood the pressure and grew rapidly. Companies invested heavily in purchasing state-of-the-art testing equipment to ensure product quality. The eel farming enterprises were reshuffled, and this also led to a shift from focusing on quantity to focusing on quality.
Today, the domestic eel industry has established a comprehensive quality and safety control system.
For example, enterprises implement a "company + base + standardisation" management model to ensure the safety of raw materials for processing. The national quality inspection departments have also implemented a red and black list system. Once a violation occurs, the enterprise will be immediately ordered to halt operations for rectification.
China has also become the world's largest supplier of eels, and Chinese eels have won the favour of consumers from various countries with their superior quality.
In the past, China's eel sales were mainly export-oriented, and awareness of eels in the domestic market was once not very high. However, in 2020, the sudden COVID-19 pandemic severely affected exports, which in turn opened up the domestic market for eel products, bringing a turning point.
Data shows that in recent years, under the dual circulation economic drive, the sales volume of eels in the domestic market has gradually overtaken that of foreign markets.
In 2022, domestic consumption of live eels totalled about 45,000 tonnes, over 30,000 tonnes more than exports. Eel consumption is gradually forming a new model, shifting from being primarily export-driven to being jointly driven by both domestic and foreign sales.
Chen Xuezhou, Vice President and Secretary-General of the Eel Industry Working Committee of the China Fisheries Association, stated, "The pull from domestic demand is crucial for the stability of eel market prices, especially as it has a direct influence on overseas market prices. This is the foundation for our country's eel industry to enhance its pricing power in the international market."
Eels are no stranger to the Chinese, who are skilled at cooking, but today, it is more than just a delicacy on the dining table. Experiencing ups and downs, breaking through barriers, and constantly transforming is the life story of a mysterious eel, and even more so, a portrayal of the development of China's eel industry.
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