“Every day we test raw materials, for diseases, the environment and disinfection,” engineer Yin (who did not disclose his full name) told a group of journalists and representatives of Brazilian companies who visited the facility this month.

Biosecurity measures were essential to the recovery of China’s pig industry, but investment in technology and management also contributed to the recovery, said the engineer, who is responsible for the feed factory. China’s pig herd currently has 39 million breeding sows, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The African swine fever outbreak accelerated the industry’s move toward greater use of technology, with small farms being replaced by large commercial operations. “After the swine fever, production is increasingly shifting toward professional companies and large groups. There are no longer those farmers with fewer than three or five pigs,” Yin said. The shift has also boosted demand for animal feed. At DBN, it is growing by about 5% a year.

Thanks to mechanization, DBN’s feed factory has fewer than 20 employees. Only a few of them were working when the newspaper visited the facility. The health crisis helped advance the adoption of technology across China’s livestock industry, but the movement—which spans several segments—is also linked to another concern in Beijing: food security.

A key focus of the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan, China’s strategy to strengthen food security has the potential to reshape a market in which Brazil is currently one of the largest suppliers. Chinese companies are already the world’s second-largest producers of chicken meat and are recovering pork production. For beef, the USDA projects that China will produce 7.1 million tonnes this year.

Beijing’s intention is to reduce China’s vulnerability in areas considered strategic. In recent decades, Chinese diets have diversified, with meat accounting for a larger share of consumption. With a population of 1.4 billion, the country has traditionally been viewed as one of the world’s largest food importers.

The Five-Year Plan launched in March 2026 to guide China’s economic and social development lists increased grain production among its priorities, along with reducing external dependence and investing in seeds, genetics, and mechanization. It also calls for strengthening the country’s livestock industry.

According to the latest report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which provides projections for 2026 through 2035, China is expected to continue increasing self-sufficiency in pork, with imports becoming less important. Investments in biosecurity and large-scale production are identified as pillars of China’s policy.

In 2024, China was the main destination for Brazilian chicken exports, receiving 562,200 tonnes. But last year, shipments fell to 250,300 tonnes, less than half the previous volume. Increased Chinese production contributed to the decline, but the main reason was the detection in May 2025 of avian influenza at a commercial farm in Rio Grande do Sul, which led to a ban on Brazilian chicken.

For pork, China imported 159,200 tonnes from Brazil last year, making it the second-largest destination for Brazilian pork, behind only the Philippines.

In 2025, China imported 1.7 million tonnes of Brazilian beef and was Brazil’s largest customer. This year, however, it established a quota system for several supplier countries, limiting Brazilian shipments to 1.106 million tonnes. The introduction of quotas, justified as a measure to safeguard China’s livestock industry, shows that Beijing is also turning to protectionist measures to achieve self-sufficiency.

And animal proteins are not the only target. China also wants to reduce its soybean imports, which currently come mainly from Brazil and the U.S. with which it is engaged in a trade war. To that end, Chinese animal-nutrition companies have been changing feed formulations, using a smaller proportion of soybean meal.

But Suping Geng, DBN Biotech’s vice president for Latin America business, does not expect a significant substitution in the short term because soybean meal remains nutritionally superior in pig-feed formulations. “If you talk to feed producers, they still believe soy is better than corn,” the executive told reporters during a visit to DBN’s laboratory in Beijing.

*By Danton Boatini Júnior, Globo Rural — Beijing

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com/