The first International Goldfish Competition opens during the 2012 Cross-strait Fishery Week in Fuzhou in east China’s Fujian Province.

Bubbly eyes, butterfly tails, lionheads...tens of thousand of goldfishes have joined the first International Goldfish Competition in Fuzhou city. The event not only provides visitors with an extravagant showcase of goldfish, it also offers the booming goldfish industry many commercial opportunities.

Locals feed goldfish for the fun of watching the fish. And it has created a big business.

Lin Nan said, "This goldfish is not just a relaxation, the related industry is worth millions of US dollars."

Wang Aimin, who owns a gold fish farm, has seen the growth first hand.

Wang Aimin, owner of Fuzhou Leisurely Ornamental Fish Farm, Fujian, said, "I have started running this business since 1984, it’s been almost 28 years. Our fish was mainly exported to Japan and southeast Asia, but the domestic market has grown really fast in recent years. In Fuzhou, we export goldfish worth 30 million us dollars every year and the domestic market has reached over 100 millions yuan."The strong demand has also attracted foreign companies to take a slice of the pie.

Tan Hengwah, Chairman of Kin Star Aqua World SDN BHD, Malaysia, said, "We entered the Chinese market 12 years ago, and have seen sales growing. As the Chinese people become more affluent, we see sales increase in precious fish. Now we have a nationwide network of distributors and sell about 3000 fish a month.

In ancient China, having goldfish was only a privilege for the elite. Nowadays it is getting popular among ordinary people as living standards grow. And companies have grabbed this opportunity to make most of this trend.