The 5th Rushan International Oyster Culture Festival opened on Jan. 11 in Rushan city of east China's Shandong province, attracting entrepreneurs and tourists from all over the country. 

A series of gourmet display and tasting activities, as well as business promotion events was held on the opening day.

Rushan, taking advantage of the fact it embraces 199 kilometers of coastline, is known as one of the best areas for oysters in China, producing high-quality oysters. 

At the first China (Rushan) International Oyster Forum held from April 21 to 23 in 2019 in the cities of Qingdao and Rushan, Gong Bengao, mayor of the latter, said the city's oyster products attracts customers from home and abroad with an annual output of 300,000 tons from more than 5,000 hectares of oyster farms. 

Last year, Rushan city signed a framework agreement on high-end development of the oyster industry with the World Oyster Society. In the same year, it hosted the 8th International Oyster Proseminar, attracting more than 300 industry experts and entrepreneurs both domestic and foreign, including those from South Korea, the UK and the United States, to visit the city for academic research and business cooperation. 

By the end of last year, the city's water area devoted to oyster cultivation reached 200,000 mu (about 13,333.33 hectares), and its annual output of over 300,000 tons produced revenue of 2.4 billion yuan ($348.21 million), all ranking first among county-level units in China. 

In 2019, Katsuyoshi Mori, president of the World Oyster Society, visited the city of Rushan checking on its development of an oyster industry chain, and saying that the local oysters met the international standard and could be supplied to the international market as a high-end product.