Abstract:Aquatic food is an essential source of animal protein, significantly contributing to food and nutritional security in China. With the rapid development of China's economy, demand and consumption of aquatic food in China are expected to increase further. In order to reduce the risk and raise the sustainability and robustness of aquatic food supply in China, the present study reviews the status and development trends of aquatic food production and consumption in China. The results show that aquaculture and capture fisheries are China's primary aquatic food sources, while imported aquatic food only accounts for less than 5% of the total aquatic food supply and consumption. China's aquaculture production is four times that of capture fisheries. Capture fisheries production has decreased while aquaculture production has kept increasing. However, China's aquaculture area and the number of practitioners have decreased in recent years, putting sustainable production and supply of aquatic food in China at risk. Due to the enormous production and consumption volume of aquatic food in China, the future aquatic food supply in China still needs to be based on domestic production. Aquaculture production needs to increase to meet China's increasing demand for aquatic food, and marine and inland catch production needs to stabilize, with aquatic food imports supplementing the supply. Aquaculture needs to improve yields per unit area and labor productivity while reducing the environmental impacts to achieve "sustainable intensification". The present study suggests strengthening aquatic food in the national food security framework, supporting sound policy formulation through better statistics, and more balanced resource investment in capture fisheries and aquaculture.