January 17, 2007

China's Hainan to supply more Wenchang chickens to Hong Kong

Although China's Ministry of Commerce has reduced the quota of chicken shipped to Hong Kong, it has raised the quota for Wenchang chicken from last year's 102,000 birds to this year's 150,000 birds, helping to give the already famous Hainan poultry product more exposure to the market.

In October, 2006, 1,500 Wenchang chickens were shipped to Hongkong for the first time after stringent inspections.

Wholesale prices of the 120 day-old chickens were set at RMB30/kg, almost double the prices it fetched in Hainan.

Prices of other species of chicken sold in Hongkong was also significantly lower than that of  Wenchang chicken. For example, prices of Qingyuan chicken, from Guangdong province,  sold there was at RMB24/ kg, while prices of Sanhuang, another favourite local chicken variety, was at RMB22.3/kg.

Despite the higher prices, the whole lot of Wenchang chickens was sold out within an hour of arrival, testament to the solid reputation Wenchang chickens enjoy in Hong Kong.

To meet soaring demand, Hainan Luoniushan Wenchang Chicken Breeding Co. Ltd supplied a total of 10,800 Wenchang chickens to Hong Kong in Dec, 2006, thus pushing the number of Wenchang chickens shipped to Hong Kong to 12,300 in 2006. The company aims to export 600,000 live Wenchang chickens to Hong Kong this year and is actively applying for the required quota.