China strengthens scientific innovation in livestock, poultry breeding

BEIJING -- Chinese scientists have fostered innovation in the protection and utilization of livestock and poultry breeds during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), supporting the country's high-quality development of the animal husbandry industry, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) said Tuesday.

China's meat production reached 76.39 million tonnes and egg production reached 34.68 million tonnes in 2020, both ranking first in the world, said Qin Yuchang, director of the Institute of Animal Science under the CAAS, at a press conference.

China has promoted independent innovation to ensure its livestock and poultry breeding resources, with the self-sufficiency ratio of key livestock and poultry breeds exceeding 75 percent, Qin noted.

The country has set up 199 national-level breeding farms, conservation areas and gene banks for livestock and poultry genetic resources. It has cultivated more than 100 new livestock and poultry breeds and has also established a commercial breeding system.

The CAAS has set up a service platform for preserving and sharing livestock and poultry germplasm resources, including information on 777 livestock and poultry breeds.

More than 300 local livestock and poultry breeds have been preserved in the form of frozen semen, embryos and somatic cells, greatly improving the diversity of livestock and poultry germplasm resources in China.