Development trend of China aquaculture is that the quantity of farmed species,the trophic level of farmed species and the intensity of aquaculture systems are increasing rapidly.China aquaculture now is encountering some difficulties,such as epidemic prevailing,lack of improved varieties of farmed species,pollution,product safety and so on.However,considering aquaculture development from the point of sustainability,the main challenges to its development are freshwater shortage,environment deterioration and increasing consumption of energy and fishmeal.High productive efficiency with low carbon emission(HELC)is the only way for China aquaculture to develop in order to ensure the food security of 1.45 billion of Chinese population before 2030 and to keep the promise of Chinese government that CO₂ emission per GDP in 2020 is reduced by 40%-45% based on the 2005 level.Although it is believed that modern biotechnology and modern engineering will contribute more and more in future aquaculture development,their wide application in aquaculture still need time and effort.Aquaculture development in China will have to come mainly from simple farming technologies,which farmers can easily adopt,in near future.Initiatively developing carbon sequestration mariculture(in which CO₂ is absorbed from water and in turn CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere is reduced directly or indirectly),such as bivalvia and seaweeds farming,is structural guarantee for HELC.In addition establishing cooperation mechanism of every production units within large waters,improving environment protection and legal consciousness of producers,reinforcing supervision for aquaculture pollutant discharge,and cooperation of aquacultural ecologists and economists are needed to guarantee the development of China aquaculture along the road to HELC.