Shengsi mussels, a specialty product in Shengsi county, Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, are recently added to the menu of State banquets. [Photo/zhoushan.cn]

Shengsi mussels, a specialty product in Shengsi county, Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, were recently added to the menu of State banquets, local media reported on Aug 14.

The addition shows that the reputation of Shengsi mussels has been further improved in China and that the county has started shifting its focus from international markets to domestic markets.

Shengsi authorities along with Zhu Qijin, designer of the State banquets at the G20 Hangzhou Summit, has created eight seafood dishes for State banquets.

Shengsi county has the reputation of the "Home of Mussels" in China and the mussel farming industry is one of its main industries.

The county is capable of producing 150,000 metric tons of mussels per year, accounting for more than 70 percent of the production in China, with most of them being exported to other countries.

Severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic this year, local mussel processing companies, cooperatives, and sales dealers have encountered difficulties with selling mussels.

Yu Xiangming, general manager of Shengsi Huali Aquatic Products Co Ltd, which had a backlog of 400 tons of frozen mussels, said that these mussels were meant to be exported to Southeast Asia, adding that the company hadn't needed to worry about its sales in previous years.

In May, the Zhoushan municipal commerce bureau collaborated with local e-commerce companies to help local foreign trade mussel companies market their products online and expand their domestic markets.

Shengsi-produced frozen mussels have been made available on local e-commerce platforms, including Donghai Yusao and Zaowu Gouqi Island, while Shengsi authorities have established an online sales industrial chain by cooperating with nationwide e-commerce platforms, including Alibaba's Fresh Hema and Good Select on Taobao.com.

The county will continue to tap into domestic markets, integrate mussel farming with the tourism industry, and cultivate more professionals in mussel farming to achieve digitalized upgrading in growing seedlings, farming, processing, transportation, and sales.