Brand building

"More and more customers like to choose Panjin crab now. In Hujia market, more than 100,000 people from all over the country come here to buy crabs every year. This is the brand effect," said Yan from the Panshan county crab industry association.

In 2011, the Panjin government registered all local crabs under the trademark "Panjin Crab".

"People like to buy Panjin crabs for their good taste and quality although it will be 10 yuan more expensive than other local brands," said Jia Yunsheng, a crab broker who has been in the business for 11 years in Hujia.

Most crabs are not sold in the market but by crab brokers such as Jia.

There are more than 6,000 crab brokers in Hujia township now. They travel around the country or even abroad to sell Panjin crabs.

"My customers will call me to order crabs and then I buy the crustacean from local raisers and send them to my customers by air, train or bus," Jia said.

"That's the traditional way of selling crabs. We are building an online marketing platform. It may be put into use in the near future," Han said.

Panjin crabs, especially larval crabs, are highly favored in Japan and Korea. Southeast Asia is becoming Panjin crab's latest market. In 2011, Panjin crab exports amounted to 2,000 tons.

Contact the writers at zhuchengpei@chinadaily.com.cn and liuce@chinadaily.com.cn.