Fish culture in China has always been a family business based on
experience accumulated over generations. The technologies used
were primitive and relatively low in yield compared to present
advanced techniques. After the 1950's, the Government of China
began to use new culture methods characterized by the remarkable
technological breakthrough in induced breeding of Chinese major
carps, which closed the life cycle of those species in
captivity. In 1978 a series of changes was introduced to China's
economic policies, whereby central planning was gradually
replaced by a market economy. By breaking market monopoly and
trade barriers among Chinese regions, China created an enabling
environment for the market development of the aquaculture
industry. At the same time, scientific and technological
advancement also paved the way for large-scale production of the
Chinese aquaculture industry. The success in artificial breeding
of carps in the late 1950's gradually built up a considerable
carp farming industry in China