Between 2008 and 2012 China’s cattle herd decreased from 89 million to 65 million. At the same time wealthier consumers are consuming more meat in their diets and are shifting their preferences from pork to beef. These shifts have sent wholesale beef prices soaring in the country. A report by Beijing-based China Suppliers Institute (CSI) states that the rise in prices is due to an exodus of rural labor to the cities, peasants abandoning oxen and other cattle used for beef and work, and government subsidy programs that support large-scale pig farming and dairy production. In one year in Hebei province, cattle numbers fell from 10 million in 2012 to 2.5 million in 2013 and cattle in Shangdong province fell from 10 million in 2000 to 5 million in 2013. Chinese imports of fresh beef climbed 1,379% and imports of frozen beef climbed 978% in the first half of 2013. Australia is China’s top supplier selling 92,680 metric tons of beef, followed by Uruguay selling 52,866 metric tons. However, according to local media reports smuggling accounts for between 40%-50% of supplies, and according to China National News large amounts of Brazilian, Indian and U.S. meat are entering China overland from Hong Kong and Vietnam.
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