MEXICO CITY — The governments of Mexico and China have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on aquaculture, in order to deepen technical, scientific and commercial know-how in the field, according to the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture.

The agreement was signed during the visit of a Chinese delegation to Mexico. Mario Aguilar Sanchez, the national commissioner for aquaculture and fishing, said this deal would lead to the exchange of personnel and the sharing of information on freshwater aquaculture, sanitary standards, and the conservation of fishery resources, the ministry announced on Sept 4.

The note said this agreement would also lead to the development of genetic improvements, the prevention and eradication of diseases, aquaculture production methods, equipment and processing and the development of rural aquaculture.

The Chinese delegation, led by Zheng Zhiling, the vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences (CAFS), visited the northern state of Sinaloa to research private and public aquaculture initiatives.

This region of Mexico is one of Latin America’s leading centers for shrimp farming and the delegation learned from examples of extensive, semi-intensive and hyper-intensive fisheries, larva laboratories and the training of human resources.

Aguilar Sánchez added that China’s experience in fisheries has been a reference for Mexico, especially in terms of public policies and in the successful increase of seafood consumption by its population.

This influence, he said, has helped Mexico reach annual growth of 14 percent in the aquaculture sector, more than double the global average of 6 percent, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.