A rendering of a tuna processing plant in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: zjzsqdxq]

The construction of a 180-million-yuan ($26.14 million) tuna processing plant in the Zhoushan National Pelagic Fishery Base in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province started on April 17.

The 32,000-square-meter plant, which will be put into operation in the first half of next year, is expected to store 5,000 metric tons of ultra-low temperature tunas and 15,000 tons of other low-temperature seafood products, local media reported.

The plant will also be equipped with smart facilities for transport vehicle scheduling, storage of goods, whole-process monitoring of goods temperature, and hazard identification, which will lay a foundation for full traceability of deep-sea products.

Funded by CNFC Overseas Fisheries Co Ltd, the one-of-a-kind plant in China will have an annual fishing quota of 112 tons of bluefin tunas and will be crucial to bolstering the development of Zhoushan's pelagic fishery industry, according to local authorities.