CDB provides loan to Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods for $320 million Aquaculture Fish Farm Project on Hao Atoll

In July 2012, China Development Bank (CDB) signed a framework cooperation agreement with the Government of French Polynesia. The agreement called for the creation of a team that would assess the feasibility and financial viability of various projects that CDB could potentially finance. In April 2014, Ms. Huang Jun, Managing Director of the China Development Bank (CDB) in Shaanxi Province, travelled to Tahiti to explore potential projects that her bank could finance in French Polynesia. In November 2014, French Polynesian Minister of Tourism, Jean-Christophe Bouissou, traveled to China for another meeting with CDB. Then, in May 2015, the French Polynesian Government and Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods announced that they would jointly launch a massive aquaculture fish farm project on Hao atoll. The project, which was originally expected to cost $1.5 billion, would involve 2,800 cages to farm fish, prawns and sea cucumbers for export to China. One month later, in June 2015, French Polynesian President, Edouard Fritch, French Polynesian Minister of Tourism, Jean-Christophe Bouissou, and French Polynesian Minister of Equipment, Albert Solia, traveled to China for another meeting with CDB officials. Then, in April 2016, President Fritch traveled to Shanghai for a meeting with Mr. Wang Feng, Director of International Affairs and Cooperation of China Development Bank, and his colleague Mr. Ying Xin. At that meeting, Mr. Wang Feng confirmed that the CDB had ‘finalized its financial contribution’ to the Aquaculture Fish Farm Project. He also conveyed that he hoped to see the project fully implemented by the end of 2016. After that meeting, Fritch told a news conference in Papeete that about $760 million would be invested in the project over two to three years. He also indicated that the French Polynesian Government would need to issue permits for the project to proceed and collect additional information on the environmental, health and safety aspects of the proposed fish farm operation. Then, in mid-August 2017, the French Polynesian Government and Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods announced that they signed a $380 million deal that would involve the development of 40 hectares of land on Hao Atoll and create 250 jobs. The project was reportedly downsized because of local concerns about the consequences of fish farming on the atoll’s environment. Wang Chen, head of Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods, met with Tahitian top leaders in mid-August 2017 and conveyed that the expected project commencement date was December 9, 2017. He also indicated that he expected the fish farm to be operational by 2020. In May 2018, however, the launch was delayed due to a legal dispute in December 2017. Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods was taken to court by Coco Group Engineering (a construction company)over alleged payment delays. Then, in January 2019, it was revealed that key people involved in the project were under investigation for alleged misuse of corporate assets. Investigators questioned the head of the Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods, Wang Cheng, and a local businessman Coco Taputuarai, who was the head of Coco Group Engineering, about cash withdrawals during the planning stage of the project. In March 2020, Coco Taputuarai was given a suspended three-year jail sentence for producing forgeries to deceive Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods. As of May 2019, the project had still not entered implementation; new permits to build the fish farm were still pending because of alterations being proposed to the number and size of the enclosures. In January 2020, French Polynesian President Edouard Fritch said that he did not know when Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods would start work on its planned fish farm on Hao. The Covid-19 outbreak in 2020 halted efforts to launch the fish farm.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Hao Aquaculture Project and the Hao Atoll Fish Farm Project. The French project title is Projet Aquacole de Hao or Projet aquacole de Tahiti Nui Ocean Food. 2. Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods is a subsidiary of a private Chinese company called Tian Rui Group (Tianrui Group). 3. In April 2016, Mr. Wang Feng, Director of International Affairs and Cooperation of China Development Bank, noted that his institution had approved funding for a ‘hotel buyout project’ by Hainan Tourism [projet de rachat d’hôtels par Hainan Tourisme (HNA)]. This project merits further investigation.

Number of official sources

8

Number of total sources

30