The launch ceremony of the 2021 East China Sea Fishing Festival is held in Zhoushan on Sept 16. [Photo/zhoushan.cn]

The 2021 East China Sea Fishing Festival was launched online in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province on Sept 16.

The fishing season in the East China Sea officially began that day. Various types of seafood, including hairtails, butterfish, sea eels, and little yellow croakers, are expected to make local residents' dinner tables more diversified.

In order to further promote seafood from Zhoushan to more Chinese cities, the local commerce bureau will carry out various cooperative events with online livestreaming and short video platforms like Douyin. A total of four influencers on Douyin were appointed to promote Zhoushan's seafood.

Zhejiang Ocean Family Co, which focuses on sectors like ocean fisheries, aquatic products processing, seasonal seafood imports, and seafood sales to domestic markets, signed a deal with JD Fresh, the fresh produce arm of Chinese e-commerce giant JD to promote its products.

Zhoushan China International Aquatic Product City launched a digital transaction service platform as well. The platform can provide services like business-to-business transactions and cold-chain truck calling for industrial insiders based on cloud computing and data intelligence.

A series of activities will be held to boost the high-quality development of the fishing industry in Zhoushan. The projects will include investment promotions, exhibitions of aquatic products, and livestreaming training courses.

In the first half of 2021, Zhoushan's fishery production totaled 590,300 tons, with a value of 9.07 billion yuan ($1.41 billion).