July 3, 2025
Momentum of China's chicken exports goes up
Among the key export destinations, Japan stood out, importing 185,400 tonnes from China and accounting for 24.07% of total exports.
The significant growth in Chinese chicken exports is the outcome of internal developments and favourable external conditions. Domestically, the poultry industry has entered a stage of high-quality development, characterised by large-scale, modernised farming.
Furthermore, expansion strategies such as the Belt and Road Initiative have facilitated broader access to Chinese poultry products internationally.
In 2024, the country produced 9.031 billion white-feathered broilers, a 2.24% increase over the previous year. These accounted for over 60% of national broiler output. However, the rapid growth has led to overcapacity, prompting many companies to seek new opportunities abroad.
Disease outbreaks and geopolitical shifts create opportunities
External factors have contributed to China's export momentum. The global outbreak of avian influenza and diseases like Newcastle disease affected major chicken exporting countries. Brazil was temporarily forced to halt exports to multiple markets. This created a big global supply gap that China could fill in.
Geopolitical tensions and rising costs in Europe and the United States have also weakened their competitiveness. Trade disruptions, supply chain instability, and inflation-driven increases in feed and energy prices have pushed up the production costs of many chicken-exporting countries. Consequently, their price advantage diminished. In contrast, China's poultry supply chain allows it to maintain competitive pricing and increase market share.
As traditional powerhouses face headwinds, Chinese chicken products are entering an era of export growth in the global poultry trade.
China's poultry breeding sector eyeing global markets
China's broiler breeders are also beginning to enter overseas markets. The rapid development of the domestic white-feather broiler industry has been underpinned by breakthroughs in independent breeding technologies. In 2024, domestic broiler breeds accounted for 28% of the market share.
In June 2023, Beijing Huadu Yukou Poultry made history by exporting 1,000 WOD 188 fast-growth white-feather parent stock broilers to Tanzania—the first successful export of Chinese breeding chickens.
During the 2024 China-Africa Cooperation Forum Summit, Zimbabwean President Mnangagwa attended a signing ceremony where Shengnong Development agreed to supply 160,000 sets of Shengze 901 parent stock chicks to Zimbabwe's Lahton Services. Additionally, Xinguang Agriculture and Animal Husbandry exported 172,800 Guangming No. 2 breeding eggs to Pakistan in August 2024.
About EFL AG-DATA
EFL AG-DATA is a startup incubated by Singapore's Nanyang Technological University's Innovation and Enterprise Company (NTUitive) Incubator Program. It is developing an agricultural hub that will revolutionize the feed-to-meat supply chain in China and Southeast Asia countries through data-driven solutions. EFL's mission is to empower farms through innovative data-based services that solve complex problems and enhance productivity.
- EFL AG-DATA
