From "A Crab" to a Hundred-Billion-Yuan Industry Chain: The Shared Prosperity Secret of Water Town Crab Farmers

Reporter Peng Yan

As the “Number One County for River Crab Farming in China,” Xinghua City in Jiangsu Province has developed its industry along the water. During the Spring Festival, Securities Daily reporters visited breeding ponds, trading markets, and processing companies on the front lines and found that, relying on ecological advantages and a full-chain layout, Xinghua’s mitten crab has evolved from a traditional single product into a modern, high-value industry with an annual output value exceeding 10 billion yuan. The local area has charted a path of high-quality development that promotes industry prosperity, farmers’ wealth, and rural revitalization.

Mitten Crab Farming Supports the Dream of Common Prosperity

During the Spring Festival holiday, the reporter accompanied Zhang Fengxiang, head of the Aquatic Technology Guidance Section of the Modern Agricultural Development Service Center of Xinghua City, to the breeding base in Lujiaba Village, Dazhou Town, Xinghua. In the cold winter, the water surface of the crab ponds is calm, and the mitten crabs underwater are in hibernation, preparing for a quality harvest next year.

“Spring Festival is the peak season for mitten crab sales. Local crab farmers have achieved year-round balanced marketing through intelligent temporary rearing technology,” Zhang Fengxiang told the reporter. In recent years, the local government has mainly promoted the “one crab, two shrimps” integrated aquaculture model, combining shrimp and crab farming. This approach improves quality and efficiency while reducing farming risks. Currently, the entire industry chain of Xinghua’s mitten crab has an output value of over 10 billion yuan.

The excellent quality of Xinghua mitten crabs benefits from the region’s unique ecological endowments. Located in the heart of the Jianghuai water network, Xinghua has excellent water quality and abundant feed. The local practice of “rare stocking, grass planting, shellfish seeding, water quality improvement, and oxygenation” in meticulous farming creates crabs with full, yellow fat, firm meat, and a fresh, sweet flavor.

Wang Zhijian, Party Secretary and Village Committee Director of Lujiaba Village, Dazhou Town, Xinghua, is a leading figure with over ten years of crab farming experience. In 2019, he pioneered ecological farming, leading villagers to explore green farming models such as mixed farming of mitten crabs and green prawns, precise water quality control, and scientific ecological feeding to produce high-quality crabs and develop a distinctive path to prosperity.

“Previously, we used only commercial feed, but now we use high-quality commercial feed, fresh low-value seawater fish, and fermented corn-based formulated bait, which greatly reduces water pollution and makes the crabs’ meat even more delicious,” Wang Zhijian explained. The ecological farming model has increased the crab’s roe rate to 60-70%, significantly reduced limb loss, and steadily increased market prices. He said that from juvenile crabs to mature crabs, the entire farming cycle takes two years. Crab larvae are raised in specialized pools for a year, then released into ecological ponds at a certain density to grow naturally. Once they reach the appropriate size for market, they are harvested and sold nationwide.

Today, the crab farming in Lujiaba Village has moved away from traditional extensive methods and is accelerating toward high-quality, high-tech transformation. The village is equipped with automated seed sorting, drone feeding, and intelligent water quality monitoring, greatly improving efficiency. By 2025, the average crab yield per mu is expected to reach 280 jin, and the scale and technological development are making villagers’ incomes grow.

“Richness for one person isn’t real wealth; shared prosperity is true wealth,” said Wang Zhijian, a leading figure in rural revitalization. He emphasizes demonstration and technology sharing, helping all villagers adopt ecological farming methods. Under his influence, farmers can earn a net profit of 3,000 to 8,000 yuan per mu. With 30 mu of farming, the average annual household income can reach 90,000 to 240,000 yuan. Currently, the crab farming area in Lujiaba Village has expanded to 3,640 mu, supporting 117 households with stable income, forming a “village-led, town-driven, regional development” pattern, and attracting many young people to return and start businesses.

From “Good Crab Farming” to “Strengthening the Industry Chain”

Xinghua mitten crab, as a leading brand in China’s river crab industry, not only supports local common prosperity but also becomes a “golden industry” that promotes rural revitalization. According to the Xinghua City Statistical Yearbook, by the end of 2024, the city’s total aquatic product output reached 328,600 tons, ranking first among inland fishery counties in Jiangsu for 35 consecutive years. The river crab farming area covers 630,000 mu, with an output of 67,000 tons and an output value of 5.1 billion yuan at current prices. These indicators lead among county-level cities nationwide. The full industry chain includes breeding, input supply, branding and marketing, deep processing, and integration of agriculture, culture, and tourism, forming a “golden industry” that supports water-based prosperity and industry growth.

To strengthen the industry, the upstream must lead. Xinghua’s Anfeng area serves as the core, gathering professional aquatic feed companies to build an integrated supply system for raw materials, technology R&D, and production and distribution, ensuring standardized and large-scale production of aquaculture feed, laying a solid foundation for ecological mitten crab farming.

Good crabs need good channels. Leveraging the advantages of the country’s largest main production area, Xinghua has established 13 large trading markets, including the Anfeng National Crab Market, supported by 36 high-end crab warehouses, over a thousand offline stores, and a comprehensive cold chain logistics and e-commerce service system, forming an efficient “production site distribution, nationwide sales” circulation pattern. At the Anfeng National Crab Market, a complete and efficient circulation chain operates smoothly—from temporary rearing, sorting, bundling, to packaging and cold chain direct shipping. In standardized rearing pools, crabs are ready for dispatch; in sorting areas, workers skillfully grade and pack crabs. The crabs are transported via cold chain directly to supermarkets, restaurants, and consumers across the country, with daily transactions exceeding one million kilograms during peak seasons.

Deep processing further enhances industry value. “Fresh crabs are sold to high-end markets, while small crabs and limb-loss crabs are processed into value-added products,” said a manager of a crab deep-processing enterprise. High-quality crabs are sold at premium prices through intelligent, staggered rearing and marketing; small crabs and limb-loss crabs are processed into products like Huadiao crab, spicy crab, crab roe sauce, crab butter, and pre-made crab dishes, over ten high-value products. Over 200 processing enterprises in the city process 45,000 tons annually, effectively solving the industry problem of “high prices for good crabs, low prices for small crabs.”

The industry chain continues to extend, and the integration effect keeps growing. Relying on the full industry chain, Xinghua promotes deep integration of crab culture and water-town tourism, helping the mitten crab brand “go viral.” The local government hosts activities like “Tasting Crab and Appreciating Chrysanthemums” and “Crab Culture Month,” creating cultural tourism routes and experience projects to attract visitors, strengthen the industry with branding, and enhance industry value and influence.

Today, Xinghua mitten crabs are not only popular across China but also exported abroad, becoming a nationally recognized aquatic product symbol, achieving a high-quality leap from “farming good crabs” to “strengthening the industry chain” and from “a pond of clear water” to a billion-yuan industry.

Financial Empowerment for Industry Upgrading

Behind the thriving sales and production is the precise infusion of financial resources. The transformation of Xinghua mitten crab industry is a vivid example of financial services supporting rural revitalization and real economy empowerment.

“A long time ago, crab farming depended on weather, with simple pond setups, prone to oxygen deficiency and water quality issues during high temperatures, leading to unstable yields and quality,” said an experienced crab farmer with over 20 years. Now, standardized ecological ponds, oxygenation facilities, intelligent feeding systems, and wastewater treatment are widely used, making ecological farming the norm. This modern industry transformation is the result of inclusive financial support.

To address funding bottlenecks, local financial institutions focus on the entire industry chain’s needs, innovating with “Xingnong Industry Loans” and “Crab Farmer Loans,” offering low-interest, convenient credit to support equipment upgrades, crab seed procurement, and ecological farm construction.

Meanwhile, the agriculture and rural departments, leveraging fiscal subsidies, collaborate with financial institutions and insurance companies to pilot weather and price index insurance for Xinghua mitten crabs, deepening the “insurance + credit + guarantee” model to build a risk “safety net.” The city is also accelerating the construction of a regional big data platform and quality traceability system for the industry, promoting digitalization, standardization, and branding.

From a single crab to a billion-yuan industry chain, Xinghua transforms ecological advantages into industrial and economic strengths through its characteristic aquatic products, writing a vivid chapter of how industry empowerment promotes rural revitalization and shared prosperity. In the future, Xinghua will continue to extend, supplement, and strengthen the industry chain, making this “wealth crab” a lasting driver of rural development.