A 10,000 mu paddy field with koi fish. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

JINAN — In the warm winter sun, colorful koi fish swim freely in their ponds at an industrial park in Sanshilipu township of Gaotang county, East China's Shandong province.

"Since one month before the Spring Festival holiday, our cooperative has seen booming sales of koi fish. Average daily sales via livestreaming e-commerce exceed 10,000 yuan ($1,480)," said Feng Yuetong, a villager in Xuma Xincun village and member of the Guangshun koi fish breeding cooperative.

Xuma Xincun was once a village without pillar industries, and residents could only work the soil.

In recent years, the village has taken advantage of the local natural conditions such as dense ponds and abundant water resources, and is now developing a koi fish breeding industry.

The Sanshilipu Township has organized professional teams to provide regular technical guidance for koi fish breeding enterprises and farmers. It is also promoting an ecological koi fish breeding model, and is building a koi fish cultural industry cluster integrating scientific research, seedlings, breeding, sales and tourism.

Xuma Xincun has established the Guangshun koi fish breeding cooperative and introduced e-commerce to help farmers expand their sales market.

Sanshilipu's koi fish industrial park now has a breeding scale of more than 1,000 mu (66.7 hectares), with an annual output value of 300 million yuan, creating jobs for more than 2,000 people.

In Xuma Xincun, the collective income hit 250,000 yuan last year. "The locals' lives are getting better. Now they have moved into modern communities," said Xia Guangshun, the village's Party chief.

Like Xuma Xincun, other villages in Gaotang county are developing koi fish breeding industries.

At present, Gaotang has over 390 koi fish breeding households and 47 breeding enterprises. The county's koi fish breeding area has exceeded 8,000 mu (about 533 hectares) and its annual koi fish fry breeding capacity has hit 300 million, with an output value of 800 million yuan.

There are more than 30 varieties of koi fish in Gaotang. According to variety and appearance, the price of a koi fish ranges from hundreds of yuan to hundreds of thousands of yuan, said Yang Fugui, president of the Gaotang county koi fish association.

Gaotang has been awarded the "China's Koi Fish Capital" title by the China Fisheries Association. In recent years, Gaotang koi fish have not only been sold across China, but also to a number of Southeast Asian countries.

"Koi fish represent good luck and great riches in Chinese culture. The Gaotang koi fish breeding business has brought wealth to locals," Yang said.