Profiles of the Chinese Pig Industry
No matter whom you ask, the answer will be the same: China is the No. 1 pork producer and consumer on this planet. In the year of 2000, 527 million heads of pigs were slaughtered, and nearly 50% of all pork in the world is now produced in China (NBSC, FAO, USDA, 2002). The 1.3 billion consumers seem to prefer pork over any other meats in their meals-essentially all pork produced in the country is consumed domestically.
Depending on whom you ask, you will at least have some different answers about the profiles of the Chinese pig industry. In 1999, a survey conducted by NBSC (National Bureau of Statistics of China) revealed that households in rural China raised an average of 1.48 pigs (NBSC, 2000). One person of 8 in the world is a Chinese farmer. Another frequently quoted statistic is that about 80 percent of all Chinese pigs are produced in the backyards of farmers’ homes. Recent reports prepared in 2002 by hog industry associations in Zhejiang, Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangdong provinces proposed that 40 to 50 percent of the hogs were produced on ‘scale farms’ in those provinces. However, it is difficult to precisely define a ‘scale farm’ and validate the reports without more reliable data. What are the correct numbers to describe the profiles? The reality may be simple: there has been no sound and comprehensive investigation/survey accomplished so far in order to accurately profile the industry.
Increasing market openness inferred by China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, continued income growth, and the shift of food consumption patterns towards more meat have attracted more and more attentions from the rest of world on Chinese pork industry.
This report attempts to depict the pig industry in China by exploring the production costs and major constraints of several swine producers. Key factors and issues will accordingly be stressed to illustrate what differentiat
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