China is expected to become a $20 billion seafood import market within this decade as rising incomes increase domestic demand for seafood, particularly premium species, according to a Rabobank report released on Wednesday.

Increasing domestic demand for seafood means significant business opportunities for seafood exporters across the world. However the scale of growth will challenge the industry to meet the demand, with feed and supply logistics challenges in China to be overcome, the bank said.

Rabobank said it expects intensifying competition for primary resources, with fishing quota holders and farming license owners the likely beneficiaries of this trend.

Although China will remain the leading exporter for many years to come, Rabobank expects the country's seafood export growth to slow down in the near term, thanks to resource constraints and the weak demand induced by a sluggish economic recovery in Western markets.

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