Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg paid a visit to Shanghai on Friday in an effort to warm up trade with China. Trade in Norwegian salmon had been frozen for some time, but is finally starting to thaw.

Regions, such as Canada, Scotland and Norway, that border the Atlantic Ocean are known for high-quality salmon.  Each kilogram of salmon from those countries, however, normally costs as much as 100 yuan more than the fish from other countries, such as Chili, who is now one of China's largest sources of salmon. Though Chinese disposable income continue to grow, it is still questionable whether people are willing to pay extra to get some salmon on their plates.

At present, only a handful of importers source their salmon from Norway. According to the Norwegian Seafood Council, China imported between 70,000 and 80,000 tons of Atlantic salmon in 2016, and only five percent of that was from Norway. The council has high hopes, however, and estimates Norway's potential market share could grow to some 65 percent.

Guiliano Vita, an area manager for a food distribution and services company, said their clients demanding Norwegian salmon are mostly five-star hotels and top restaurants, but due to the limited amount of Norwegian salmon now available, importers can make a profit of from 30 to 40 percent compared to only 20 percent on salmon from Chili. The Norwegian Seafood Council has been granted 1.15 million dollars in marketing for its China operations in 2017, around ten times the figure in previous years.