More than 500 development and research practitioners from over 40 countries and regions convened in Beijing on Monday for the opening day of the International Conference on Livestock Services.
The conference is aimed at promoting worldwide cooperation and exchanges on livestock services and to share lessons learnt from the past decade.
Niu Dun, Vice Minister of Agriculture (MOA), addressed the opening ceremony, pointing out that China has ended its shortage of livestock products after two decades of economic reform, and now livestock production is growing faster than any other agricultural sub-sector.
Niu said China's livestock production has entered a crucial stage as it makes the transition from a traditional local multi-purpose activity to an increasingly market-oriented and vertically-integrated business.
With the progress of trade globalization, China is willing to learn from the experiences from other countries and regions to enhance its livestock industry development, said Niu.
Shen Guofang, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), said at the conference that promoting the development of livestock production has been an important way to raise agricultural output and increase farmers' income.
Shen urged the developing countries to increase scientific input on livestock production development and research, which will help boost livestock production and enhance rural development.
Official statistics show that the output of China's livestock production reached 1.3 trillion yuan (US$162.5 billion) in 2005, about 35 percent of China's national agricultural output.
In 2005, China produced 76.5 million tons of pork, 28.6 million tons of eggs and 28.45 million tons of milk, with the per capital output standing at 58.5 kilograms, 21.9 kilograms, and 21.7 kilograms respectively.
The three-day International Conference on Livestock Services is being jointly hosted by the CAE, the MOA, and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural sciences (CAAS). The conference also has the support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the World Bank (WB), the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).
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