A total of 28 chefs from seven provinces and cities cooked 56 creative globefish dishes in the creative globefish cooking competition. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

The 2021 International Globefish Culture Summit Forum and the 11th China Hai'an Globefish Festival opened on April 24 in the county-level city of Hai'an in Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province.

Globefish are a gilded signboard of Hai'an's tourism industry. Since 2010, the globefish festival has been held for 10 consecutive years, injecting vitality into local tourism through promoting the integration of culture, tourism and investment.

In a creative globefish cooking competition held on the morning of that day, 28 chefs from seven provinces and cities cooked 56 dishes. After five experts' review, Jiang Jie from Jiangsu Xiangcheng Secondary Vocational School won the gold award.

At present, an industrial chain focusing on globefish has formed in Hai'an. "We have now formed an entire industry chain integrating scientific research and development, fish fry reproduction, scientific breeding, fish processing, microbial preparations, fish bioengineering, logistics and distribution, marketing, catering and tourism," said Qian Xiaoming, president of Jiangsu Zhongyang Group Co Ltd – a Hai'an-based private enterprise engaged in the local fishery.

At the opening ceremony, Hai'an's food, cultural and creative products, folk culture and tourism resources were promoted online and offline. Promotions of globefish were also launched at the same time.

In addition, the event also used livestreaming to recommend Hai'an's scenic spots, delicacies and cultural and creative industry as well as its globefish products.