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Since 1990 abalone culture has spread widely from north to south on Chinas coast. Estimated total yield for the year 2001 was around 4,500 tonnes (excluding Taiwan). There are several hundreds of abalone farms along the coast. Some of the bigger farms produce more than 100 t of live abalone each year. The main cultured species are Haliotis diversicolar aquatilis Reeve in the south and H. discus hannai Ino in the north. Additionally H. discus discuss Reeve has been introduced row Japan and hybridized with H. discuss hannai. Crossbreeding has been applied in production. Tank culture and floating raft methods are important in the south and north respectively. At present, epidemic virus diseases and Vibrio are the gravest threat. Farms have suffered heavy economic losses as a result of these. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]