Food Safety
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Safety
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • White Papers
  • PRODUCTS
  • TOPICS
    • Contamination Control
    • Food Types
    • Management
    • Process Control
    • Regulatory
    • Sanitation
    • Supply Chain
    • Testing and Analysis
  • PODCAST
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Food Safety Five Newsreel
    • eBooks
    • FSM Distinguished Service Award
    • Interactive Product Spotlights
    • Videos
  • BUYER'S GUIDE
  • MORE
    • ENEWSLETTER >
      • Archive Issues
      • Subscribe to eNews
    • Store
    • Sponsor Insights
  • WEBINARS
  • FOOD SAFETY SUMMIT
  • EMAG
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issues
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Contact
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
Contamination ControlFood TypeMicrobiologicalMeat/Poultry

African Swine Fever Will Accelerate the Transformation of China’s Pork Industry

April 2, 2019

China’s battle to control African swine fever (ASF) highlights the need for continued modernization of the world’s largest pork industry and is accelerating the ongoing transformation. China produces and consumes nearly 700 million hogs per year, about 50 percent of the world’s total.

Since August 2018, more than 100 cases of ASF have been discovered across 24 provinces in China.  It is a highly contagious porcine virus with no vaccine or cure, and usually leads to a pig’s death within a week. According to the World Organization for Animal Health, ASF poses no risk to human health.

China has quickly taken measures to control the disease, including culling more than 900,000 pigs, restricting the transportation of live pigs and pig products, closing some live hog markets, and banning the use of kitchen waste to feed pigs.

Eradication of ASF could take years or even decades, and will require comprehensive, long-term measures. The urgency of containing the disease will accelerate the pork industry’s ongoing shift from small farms and manual slaughterhouses to integrated supply chains with industrial farms, large-scale processing, and cold chain distribution.   

The sector’s modernisation will require a continuing influx of technology, expertise, management experience, and capital. 

Restrictions on Shipping Live Pigs
Before August 2018, live hogs were often shipped long distances to slaughterhouses in China, due to differences between prices in various locations. Live pig shipping can spread the ASF virus. To combat ASF, the government intends to accelerate transformation of China’s supply chains from “shipping hogs” to “shipping meat.”

In recent years, about 15 percent of China’s hogs were shipped across provincial borders. ASF control measures caused inter-provincial shipments to drop from over 2 million pigs/week in July 2018 to about 4,000 pigs/week during the first 2 weeks of January 2019, according to data from China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA).

At the end of 2018, MARA published the Notice on Regulating Live Pigs and Pig Product Transportation Activities. It stated that live pig shipment is suspended from counties and provinces affected by ASF. The Notice included exceptions, however, for interprovincial shipping of breeding sows and commercial piglets from farms that meet strict biosecurity requirements, including mandatory ASF testing procedures. 

By the third week of January, interprovincial shipments had rebounded to nearly 580,000 live pigs/week. 

The Notice also allows for some shipping of live hogs from counties affected by ASF, but only from farms with modern biosecurity management systems and full-time veterinarians. Those shipments must use pre-approved routes and vehicles must meet detailed government requirements, including location tracking devices.

Consolidation of a Fragmented Farming Sector
Significantly, the new restrictions on live hog shipping make it increasingly difficult for small farms to sell their livestock. 

In 2016, China had nearly 43 million farms that raised hogs, of which 40 million produced fewer than 50 hogs per year. About half of China’s hogs come from farms that produce fewer than 500 per year. In contrast, the U.S. has only 56,000 hog farms, with 90 percent of hogs raised on farms that produce more than 5,000 per year.

China’s largest hog farms use commercial feed and have modern biosecurity management. But tens of millions of household farms have low levels of biosecurity and are more likely to feed kitchen waste—a common vector for ASF transmission—to their pigs.

Household farms were already in rapid decline, driven by urbanization and China’s increasingly strict food safety, environmental, and biosecurity regulations. The number of farms producing fewer than 50 hogs per year fell from 80 million in 2007 to about 40 million in 2016.

At the same time, China’s leading feed, livestock, and meat processing companies have been building large industrial hog farms. The number of farms producing more than 50,000 hogs per year increased from 12 in 1999 to over 300 in 2016.

Government measures to control ASF and further improve biosecurity will accelerate China’s shift from household farms to large modern farms.  

Consolidation of Processing
China’s hog processing is highly fragmented with a large number of small abattoirs. China has about 11,000 designated hog slaughterhouses, the majority of which are manual operations.

According to the State Council’s Rules for Slaughterhouse Management, hogs can only be slaughtered in “designated” slaughterhouses, that is, slaughterhouses that are licenced according to national food safety, quality, biosecurity, and environmental standards. The only exceptions are slaughter for self-consumption or locally supervised slaughterhouses in remote locations.

Of the nearly 700 million hogs produced in China in 2016, only 45 percent were processed in designated slaughterhouses. In contrast, the U.S. has 636 federally inspected hog slaughterhouses; and these processed over 99 percent of the US output of 121 million hogs.

In 2016, China had about 2,900 “scale” slaughterhouses, that is, those with capacity of more than 20,000 hogs per year. Scale slaughterhouses processed about 30 percent of China’s total hog production. In contrast, the 13 largest U.S. slaughterhouses each have an annual capacity exceeding 4 million hogs, and together processed 59 percent of US hog production.

China’s designated slaughterhouses suffer from low utilisation, but the sector is consolidating. Between 2007 and 2016, the number of designated slaughterhouses fell by nearly 50 percent, while the number of scale slaughterhouses grew by about 45 percent.

New government biosecurity measures favor large slaughterhouses. For example, MARA’s Notice imposes strict ASF-related restrictions, but includes exceptions for slaughterhouses that process more than 150,000 hogs per year.

The urgency of ASF control measures is accelerating the shift towards large-scale industrial slaughterhouses.

Building the Cold Chain
Approximately 80 percent of retail meat sales in China are fresh meat, compared to about 20 percent in the U.S. Fresh meat has a shelf life of 1–2 days, while chilled fresh meat has a shelf life of about 1 week. Because China’s cold chain capacity is limited, live hogs must be shipped to slaughterhouses located near the final retail consumers.

China’s per capita cold storage capacity is about half that of Western Europe and about one-third that of the U.S. As recently as 2015, only 34 percent of China’s meat products were delivered via the cold chain, compared to more than 95 percent in Europe and the U.S.

Nevertheless, China’s cold chain capabilities are growing quickly. Refrigerated warehouse capacity and refrigerated truck shipping have doubled since 2012. The percentage of meat products distributed via cold chain nearly tripled between 2009 and 2015.

The transformation from “shipping hogs” to “shipping meat” will accelerate the expansion of cold chain capacity to distribute pork products from large-scale processing facilities.

Fast Forward
In the short term, restrictions on live markets and transportation will make it more difficult for small farms to sell their hogs, and result in many leaving the industry. Small or unauthorized slaughterhouses will face similar difficulties in purchasing hogs and selling their products.

China’s leading “dragon head” companies have the resources to survive today’s difficult market and will accelerate plans to increase their market share of hog production and processing. Their large-scale industrial operations will be increasingly vertically integrated and will implement modern biosecurity, food safety, and environmental product practices. Growing cold chain and deep processing capacity will increase shelf life and distribution reach.  

These changes were already envisioned by China’s National Swine Production Development Plan (2016–2020). The urgency of ASF control measures will accelerate these developments and create new opportunities for those companies that have relevant technology, expertise, and management experience. 

Transforming half of the world’s pork production will require massive resources, but there is no doubt that it will rapidly move forward. Ensuring safe and adequate supply of pork for consumers in the world’s largest market is one of China’s top priorities.

Brian Marterer is a senior manager in PwC China’s Food Supply and Integrity Services team.


Author(s): Brian Marterer

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • people holding baby chicks

    Serovar Differences Matter: Utility of Deep Serotyping in Broiler Production and Processing

    This article discusses the significance of Salmonella in...
    Food Type
    By: Nikki Shariat Ph.D.
  • woman washing hands

    Building a Culture of Hygiene in the Food Processing Plant

    Everyone entering a food processing facility needs to...
    Sanitation
    By: Richard F. Stier, M.S.
  • graphical representation of earth over dirt

    Climate Change and Emerging Risks to Food Safety: Building Climate Resilience

    This article examines the multifaceted threats to food...
    Risk Assessment
    By: Maria Cristina Tirado Ph.D., D.V.M. and Shamini Albert Raj M.A.
Manage My Account
  • eMagazine Subscription
  • Subscribe to eNewsletter
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Website Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Food Safety Magazine audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Food Safety Magazine or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • mold
    Sponsored byIFC

    Tackling Mold Remediation in Food Processing Plants

  • a worker in a food processing plant
    Sponsored byLPS® DETEX®

    How a Beverage Facility Improved Food Safety and Compliance with Detectable Packaging Solutions

  • Two men standing in a produce storage facility having a discussion.
    Sponsored byOrkin Commercial

    Staying Compliant With FSMA

Popular Stories

carton of dozen brown eggs

Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Eggs Ends With One Dead, 38 Hospitalized

close-up macaroni noodles with FDA logo overlay

FDA to Revoke 52 ‘Obsolete and Unnecessary’ Standards of Identity for Food Products

blue iced donuts next to pie of sugar with blue written in it

FDA Authorizes Use of Fourth ‘Natural’ Food Dye, Gardenia Blue

Events

July 22, 2025

Beyond the Binder: Digital Management of Food Safety

Live: July 22, 2025 at 3:00 pm EDT: During this webinar, attendees will learn best practices for the use of digital food safety management systems across industry and regulatory agencies.

August 7, 2025

Achieve Active Managerial Control of Major Risk Factors Using a Food Safety Management System

Live: August 7, 2025 at 2:00 pm EDT: From this webinar, attendees will learn about changes to the FDA Food Code, which now includes a requirement for FSMS. 

August 28, 2025

Strategies for Rodent Control in Distribution Facilities

Live: August 28, 2025 at 2:00 pm EDT: From this webinar, attendees will learn how to understand rodent behavior and innovative strategies for rodent management.

View All

Products

Global Food Safety Microbial Interventions and Molecular Advancements

Global Food Safety Microbial Interventions and Molecular Advancements

See More Products
Environmental Monitoring Excellence eBook

Related Articles

  • U.S. Pork Industry on Alert as African Swine Fever Sweeps China

    See More
  • Is African Swine Fever an Emerging Threat to the U.S. Pork Supply?

    See More
  • black pig

    USDA Prepares to Invest Up to $500 Million to Prevent Spread of African Swine Fever

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • 1119237963.jpg

    Food Safety in China: Science, Technology, Management and Regulation

  • 1119053595.jpg

    Food Safety for the 21st Century: Managing HACCP and Food Safety throughout the Global Supply Chain, 2E

  • 1119258073.jpg

    FSMA and Food Safety Systems: Understanding and Implementing the Rules

See More Products

Related Directories

  • Fayette Industrial

    At Fayette, we understand that cleanliness in your meat, poultry, pork, or ready-to-eat facility isn't just about passing inspections—it's about protecting your entire business. Our specialized contract sanitation services are tailored to your specific processing environment with rigorous pathogen prevention protocols and audit preparation that exceed regulatory standards.
×

Never miss the latest news and trends driving the food safety industry

eNewsletter | Website | eMagazine

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing