By August 15, 2025, Vietnam’s shrimp exports to China and Hong Kong reached nearly 767 million USD. This represents an increase of up to 76% compared to the same period last year and accounts for nearly 29% of the country’s total shrimp export value. China has the best growth rate for Vietnamese shrimp this year. In the first half of August alone, the export value was nearly 57 million USD, accounting for nearly 30% of the country’s total shrimp exports.
In the product structure, other shrimps account for an overwhelming proportion and recorded triple-digit growth, especially for live, fresh, and frozen products. This clearly reflects strong demand for premium products like live lobster. Black tiger shrimp exports to China also saw double-digit growth, while whiteleg shrimp experienced a decline.
China imported 519,000 tons of frozen warmwater shrimp in the first 7 months of 2025, a 2% decrease compared to the same period in 2024. However, the import value increased by 7% to 2.73 billion USD due to a 9% increase in the average price to 5.25 USD/kg. In July alone, import volume increased sharply to over 90,000 tons, the highest level since the beginning of 2024, showing a partial recovery in demand.
Vietnam’s shrimp exports have seen growth of up to 76%.
Ecuador remains in its dominant position, supplying up to 75% of China’s shrimp imports, equivalent to nearly 389,000 tons in 7 months. Conversely, India saw a 7% decline to 76,000 tons, while smaller suppliers like Myanmar, Argentina, and Thailand recorded strong growth.
However, the increase in imports in July also led to large inventories, along with weakening food service demand, which caused the price of imported shrimp in China to continue to decline in August.
In the Chinese market, Ecuador currently holds a significant advantage due to its high supply, competitive prices, and products that align with consumer preferences, particularly in the frozen whole shrimp category. India is the second-largest supplier but is gradually losing market share due to difficulties in quality and cost control, as well as supply, when meeting multiple markets simultaneously.
In that context, Vietnamese shrimp has emerged as an added option in the high-end segment. While Ecuador and India dominate in terms of price and volume, Vietnam is favored for high-quality products, large tiger prawns, live lobsters, and value-added processed products. These advantages help Vietnamese shrimp avoid direct competition with Ecuador in the popular segment and open up opportunities to exploit the high-potential niche market in China.
Vietnam is considered the country with the most modern shrimp processing technology and has strengths in producing value-added goods. Specifically, according to the Department of Fisheries, the overall processing level of Vietnamese enterprises is the highest in the world, and this is a significant competitive advantage.