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Updated: 2007-06-18 11:13

The third China Animal Husbandry Scitech Forum will be held this September in Rongchang, in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. Accompanying the forum will be the fifth New Projects, New Technology and New Products Exposition for China Chongqing Animal Husbandry Science and Technology City

A modern, dynamic, and open county, Rongchang is reputed countrywide for its livestock industry.

It is one of the main origin and production areas for China's top three pigs and one of the world's top eight choice endemic pigs - the Rongchang pig. Early in 1957, the Rongchang pig was listed in the world livestock species dictionary by the United Kingdom, becoming a world-acknowledged precious pig resource.

Chongqing Animal Husbandry Science and Technology City in Rongchang has witnessed the rapid development of its livestock industry since its establishment a decade ago.

The city is composed of three functional areas: the scientific and educational area, the production base and three markets.

The world's first pig museum has been set up in the scientific and educational area, which also includes an educational and training center, a pig stud research center and an animal feed and medicine research center, as well as centers for biotechnology research, livestock technology service and stockbreeding information.

A variety of academies and institutions in this area have so far raised up to 100 million yuan to introduce advanced equipment and build labs.

An 8-million-yuan municipal-level key lab for pig farming has already been put into operation.

Wang Guangqiang, head of the county government, said 10 institutes of the area have taken up 184 research projects at national and municipal levels, and many of their achievements have even taken the lead in the world.

The production base covers seven livestock-related divisions such as piglet, white goose, bees, feed, animal medicine, etc. The three markets include the largest wholesale markets for feed, veterinary medicine and fowl products in Southwest China.

Through the past decade, "livestock farming in Rongchang has developed so prosperously that it has become the county's pillar industry," said Xia Zeliang, secretary of the Rongchang Party committee.

The livestock production base has taken an initial shape. With 20 piglet production and five goose production bases, and four apiaries, Rongchang can produce 2 million piglets, 2 million geese, 30,000 bee colonies and 2,220 tons of bee honey products every year.

As Chongqing's biggest stud pig supplier, the county has established farms for raising the new Rongchang pig I series and exotic-genus pig series, capable of exporting more than 10,000 pigs annually.

In addition, the stud pig choosing and preservation project, whose total investment value is 12.6 million yuan, is in full swing.

In addition, the county also features fowl product processing and feed and veterinary medicine industries, added Xia.

Clusters of enterprises oriented to bio-technology have been established in the Rongchang Industrial Zone, a provincial development zone in Chongqing.

These include global Fortune 500 firms like Agribrands Purina (Chongqing) Feedmill Co Ltd and China Fortune 500 firms New Hope Group and Tieqi Lishi Group.

So far, more than 60 feed enterprises and 13 veterinary medicine manufacturers have settled in Rongchang, earning accumulated revenue worth 500 million yuan and 800 million yuan respectively.

Nine firms among these have gained GMP authentication by the Ministry of Agriculture. Further, 1,000-plus local feed retailers conduct sales worth up to 1.2 billion yuan a year.

A special market for feed and veterinary medicine, covering over 200 mu (13.3 hectares), is to start construction in August 2008, aiming to be the largest market of its kind in West China and one of the best in the country.