Hunchun, a small Chinese border city near Russia, has become a vital hub for importing Russian king crabs, bringing in 12,000 metric tons of the crustaceans worth 3.31 billion yuan ($463 million) last year, according to government statistics.

Although not a coastal city, Hunchun in Jilin province benefits from its proximity to Russia's ice-free ports, sitting 42 kilometers from Posyet Port and 71 km from Zarubino Port, both rich in seafood resources, said Sun Jufeng, director of the administration service center of Hunchun Port.

Approved in 2016 as a designated port for frozen seafood and live aquatic imports, Hunchun Port is now known as a "golden channel" for Russian king crabs entering China. More than 1.5 million king crabs pass through the port annually, accounting for about 80 percent of the national market share, said Li Long, general manager of Yiheng Industrial and Trade Co, one of the city's earliest firms in Russian seafood trade.

To keep the crabs fresh, Hunchun customs has set up a green channel for live seafood, offering 24-hour inspection services, according to Fu Jia, chief of the comprehensive business section at the Changling office of Hunchun customs.

King crabs caught in Russian deep seas at night can be transported through Hunchun Port to the city by the next day, where they are kept temporarily in rearing centers before being distributed across China, Li said.

After being reared in Hunchun, the crabs are mainly sold in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces as well as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen cities in Guangdong province, said Liu Yansong, director of the rearing center at the Northeast Asia Fresh Seafood Industrial Park.

"Consumers in Beijing can taste fresh, live king crabs in as fast as eight hours," Liu said.

The industrial park, which covers 110,000 square meters and was built with a 663 million yuan investment, includes 182 holding ponds for imported seafood such as king crabs and snow crabs, Liu said.

Beyond online purchases, many tourists visit Hunchun's seafood street market, where more than 20 stores sell king crabs, offer seafood barbecues and provide processing services.

Wang Hai, manager of the king crab exhibition hall at the Northeast Asia Cross-border E-commerce Park in Hunchun, said the hall has seen steady visitor traffic and growing sales since opening.

The hall also offers cultural and creative products, including king crab shell crafts and king crab-shaped ice cream, which have proven popular among tourists, Wang said.