The world's first large-scale seismic data processing model with 100 million parameters called "DiTing" has been officially released, a significant advancement for China in key technologies in seismology, according to the Chengdu science and technology bureau in Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Monday.
The model was developed by the National Supercomputing Center in Chengdu in cooperation with the Institute of Geophysics of the China Earthquake Administration and Tsinghua University, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
In September 2023, the National Supercomputing Center in Chengdu partnered with the Institute of Geophysics of the China Earthquake Administration to establish the joint laboratory for research into earthquake large-scale model innovation application.
They launched the training of the "DiTing" model with researchers from Tsinghua University and the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to advance artificial intelligence algorithms in seismology and research in earthquake monitoring and forecasting services, said Guo Li, chairman of Chengdu Supercomputing Center Operation Company, according to the supercomputing center on Monday.
The "DiTing" dataset is the first and one of the largest seismic AI training datasets for seismology with the most comprehensive sample types and labeling, said the center.
Researchers have developed a seismic wave model with 100 million parameters in the half-year study in the joint lab, which is now ready for use, and a version with 1 billion parameters is expected to be completed pre-training by August 2024, supporting earthquake prevention and disaster reduction efforts, according to the developers.
In future, the model could be applied in fields such as mine seismic monitoring, shale gas exploitation, urban underground space structure detection, underwater earthquake monitoring and others, according to the developers.
After a period of confusing noise about China's "over-capacity," some Western media are slowly starting to return to reality. The Financial Times recently published an editorial titled "Chinese electric vehicles are more of an opportunity than a threat," stating that the US and Europe should welcome China to produce cost-effective cars in the cheapest segments to help achieve economic decarbonization. Even The Economist, which is often biased against China's economy, acknowledged China's growing role as the world's R&D lab. The magazine also noted that foreign CEOs now see China's brainpower and its innovation-curious regulatory regime are crucial ingredients of their companies' global success.
The recent hype about China's "over-capacity" began with the fear of the so-called China shock 2.0. Unfair subsidies and cheap dumping were the habitual accusations pinned on China's industries. However, these accusations were made too arbitrarily, and even the critics themselves are finding it difficult to explain why industries such as electric vehicles have gained an edge in China, or why China has become the world's R&D lab, as recently noted by The Economist. The deeper we look, the more we find the absurdity of blaming China's industrial development.
In recent years, it has become common for foreign companies to set up R&D centers in China and engage in technological research and product innovation. Apple has R&D centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Suzhou, with its R&D staff in China doubling over the past five years. BMW has established its largest global production base and the largest R&D system outside Germany in China. BASF's innovation campus in Shanghai is the largest in the Asia-Pacific region and the second-largest globally. In February this year, British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced plans to transform its Shanghai operations into a global R&D hub. The choice of China as an R&D hub by many Western companies actually reflects the deeper reasons behind China's outstanding performance in the current global industrial innovation landscape.
China's industrial development ultimately relies on a large pool of high-quality talent, market competition, innovation capability, and the strategic resolve of "sticking to a single blueprint until the end." In terms of talent alone, China produces seven times more engineering degree holders than the US, 2.5 times more top-tier AI researchers at the undergraduate level, and it is projected that by 2025, China will produce almost twice as many science and technology PhD graduates as the US. Of course, China's industrial development and technological innovation advantages haven't been achieved overnight, but are the result of extensive efforts and accumulation. Since 2000, China's R&D expenditure has increased over 30-fold, with last year's R&D investment exceeding 3.3 trillion yuan. Often, the significant cost advantages that Chinese products achieve in the market far surpass their competitors, and this is the result of full-industry chain innovation in a competitive market environment.
It is essential to recognize that China has established a robust technological market and a competitive atmosphere. Leveraging its vast domestic market and industrial base, significant technological markets have emerged in places like Shanghai and Hefei, Anhui Province, achieving notable progress in fields such as intelligent manufacturing and new materials. Whether in terms of market competition or innovation regulation, China's technological market stands out globally. The rapid advancements in cutting-edge technological fields such as autonomous driving and AI in China are closely linked to this conducive environment.
In fact, China has consistently maintained an attitude of open cooperation and mutual benefit in promoting technological innovation in frontier fields and industrial innovation in practical applications. Take new energy as an example: China is the largest contributor to global energy transition investments, accounting for half of the total global investment. China's goal of achieving its own energy transition is resolute, and it also aims to support the global green and low-carbon transition through the development of its new energy industry. Creating artificial political barriers will not suppress China's development and runs counter to the mainstream understanding in the scientific and business communities, harming the interests of the entire world. As the Financial Times stated, at some point, Western leaders will have to choose between their climate goals and their protectionism - and it would be better for everyone if it is protectionism that has to give.
Chinese unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developer United Aircraft Group said on Thursday that it has won 100 industrial-level UAV orders at the ongoing Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, the UK, reflecting a rising competitive edge held by Chinese aviation companies.
It is the first series of orders received by Chinese companies at the show.
The development reflects Chinese enterprises in the commercial aviation field are actively participating in global competition, seeking to forge new market opportunities, Tian Gangyin, founder and CEO of United Aircraft Group, told the Global Times on Thursday.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), the manufacturer of the home-made large aircraft C919, brought 1:20 scale C919 and C929 aircraft models to the public at the air show.
COMAC said that it will also carry out special promotion activities to strengthen negotiations and exchanges with customers and partners.
United Aircraft has brought several flagship products at the show, such as the TD550 unmanned helicopter, with a load capacity of 200 kilograms and a maximum endurance of 8 hours, has become an optimal choice for emergency rescue and material transportation.
The helicopter's performance is particularly outstanding in high-altitude and extreme conditions when carrying out firefighting and emergency supply delivery missions.
After more than a decade of development, United Aircraft has established a mature industrial chain system that covers research and development, production, assembly, and testing and verification.
The development of UAV industry is in line with the Chinese government's policy agenda, which emphasizes the development of strategic emerging industries such as commercial aerospace and the low-altitude economy.
The low-altitude economy was defined as a strategic emerging industry at the country's annual central economic work conference in 2023 and written into this year's government work report as a new growth engine.
The size of China's low-altitude economy by 2023 is estimated to surpass 500 billion yuan, with its scale expected to rise to 2 trillion yuan by 2030, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
China's seaborne container shipments to the US jumped 15 percent year-on-year by volume in June, showing resilient supply and demand between the world's two largest economies despite intensified decoupling attempts by the US, industry experts said.
Multiple factors contributed to the growth, including the early preparation and delivery of products for Christmas as well as a seasonal shopping spree that falls in late November.
According to US-based research company Descartes Datamyne, the numbers of 20-foot containers moved from Asia to the US in June increased by 16 percent year-on-year, Nikkei reported on Monday. It was the 10th consecutive month of year-on-year growth.
The Chinese mainland, which accounted for nearly 60 percent of the total volume, rose 15 percent, the Nikkei reported.
All of the top 10 products exceeded the same period last year. The largest increase was in automotive-related products, which grew by 25 percent, followed by textile products, which rose by 24 percent, according to the report.
The figures are in line with data released by China's General Administration of Customs on July 12. In June, China-US trade amounted to 420.94 billion yuan ($57.8 billion), a year-on-year increase of 2.9 percent. China's exports to the US rose by 4.7 percent, maintaining a positive trend.
Chinese experts said that the trend shows that China-US trade relations remain resilient and strong, despite the US government's attempts to decouple from China.
"The resilient state of supply and demand between the two major economies played an important factor in driving the growth," Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Another reason for the rising cargo volume might be that businesses are speculating about possible heavier tariffs, depending on the US presidential election result, so they're ramping up goods production and delivery, Gao said.
But that's unlikely, since it could backfire on American consumers as well, Gao added.
"There is a trend this year - that is, July and August were normally the busiest in terms of the start of the peak season in the US in previous years, but this year it was brought forward from May," Zhong Zhechao, founder of One Shipping, an international logistics service consulting firm, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
There are multiple reasons for this change, including a high demand for Chinese goods.
Businesses are working in full swing to deliver goods for the upcoming Christmas and Black Friday shopping sprees, which are seeing strong demand as the US inflation level is reportedly declining, Zhong said.
Consumers vote with their wallets. The scale of cargo trade shows that China-made goods are still gaining popularity among American consumers as these products offer more value for money, the industry insider noted.
Other driver for the strong trade growth is the speculation about a possible port workers' strike along the US East Coast, after their labor contracts expire in late September, Zhong said.
Zhong said that the strong cargo trend may peak in July and decline after August.
A large US business delegation is visiting China this week, and its members said that the US business community is confident in continuing to deepen cooperation with China and committed to building a strong, balanced bilateral relationship, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
China's Ministry of Science and Technology reported on Saturday detailed cases of academic misconduct in national key research and development (R&D) projects and announced strict measures against researchers involved in plagiarism and unethical lobbying in project applications.
The implicated researchers will face punitive sanctions, including bans from government-supported research activities and having their names added to an academic dishonesty database.
Experts noted that these measures reflect the Chinese government's zero-tolerance toward academic misconduct. They serve as a clear warning to scientific researchers and will help ensure that scientific innovation remains both legitimate and properly regulated.
The published cases included Zhao Ran from China Agricultural University, Zhang Tao from PinYuan (Suizhou) Modern Agriculture Development Co, Zhang Xiaocheng from Yongjiang Laboratory in East China's Zhejiang Province, and Chen Haotai from the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, according to the announcement.
Each was found to have plagiarized content in their project proposals, copying from previously funded projects, leading to the termination of their applications and a three-year ban from participating in government-funded research. Their misconduct has been recorded as a serious breach in the research integrity database.
In addition, Sun Beicheng, a former researcher at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, was found guilty of trying to influence the evaluation by contacting potential reviewers for favorable treatment, leading to the termination of his project evaluation and a seven-year ban from government-funded research.
Academic misconduct undermines scientific, ethical and legal standards, and is detrimental to the country's long-term sci-tech advancement, Sun Guorui, a professor specializing in intellectual property studies at the Law School of Beihang University, told the Global Times on Sunday.
"Public exposure of those involved sends a strong warning and acts as a future deterrent against such behavior," Sun Guorui said.
According to the announcement, the ministry has instructed the involved institutions to enforce research integrity measures and complete rectification by a set deadline, urging researchers to uphold scientific standards and integrity in academic research and strengthen their sense of responsibility to contribute to achieving high-level technological self-reliance.
Sun Guorui highlighted the government's continuous efforts to encourage innovation while preventing breaches of research ethics, noting this policy is crucial in guiding the future of the country's science development, ensuring the legitimacy and regulation of research innovation.
More than half of the surveyed Japanese companies in China consider China to be one of the most important markets in view of the development of the second largest economy, according to a survey released by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China on Wednesday, indicating the remaining importance that Japanese businesses attached to the Chinese market, despite external uncertainties.
These remarks were made by the Chairman of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China Tetsuro Homma in the preamble for the "White Paper on the Chinese Economy and Japanese Companies."
In preparing this white paper, opinions were solicited from 8,312 Japanese-affiliated companies that are members of the chamber.
China offers significant market opportunities for foreign companies and is a powerful source of corporate profits for many companies that have set up operations in the country, the chamber said.
According to the second survey on the perception of the economic and business environment by the chamber, regarding the amount of investment in China in 2023, of the 1,713 Japanese companies that answered, 15 percent of them plan to "significantly increase" or "increase" investment year-on-year. There were 38 percent of the surveyed companies said that their investment will be the same amount as in 2022.
When asked how they see the Chinese market this year and beyond, 51 percent of the companies said that China is "the most important market" or "one of the three most important markets."
What also noteworthy is that less than 10 percent of the respondents said that they will downsize or withdraw investment, which the chamber said showing that the majority of Japanese companies have a strong commitment to remain firmly entrenched in the Chinese market.
In the second survey, 54 percent of the surveyed companies were "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with the business environment in China.
There were 46 respondents wanting to see improvement or very much improvement, the survey said, noting that there is still plenty of room for improvement in the business environment, as they expressed their desire for visa-free travel to resume among some other issues.
Osamu Onodera, a vice chairman of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China, said that China is very important for foreign-funded enterprises, and at the same time, the existence of foreign-funded enterprises in China is also very important, noting that "We hope that both parties can form a win-win relationship," which is also the main reason for conducting and releasing such white paper.
External factors have caused challenges to Japanese companies doing businesses in China. Homma said on Wednesday that the impact of economic and trade frictions between the US and China has brought greater uncertainty to Japanese companies when making major decisions.
Despite challenges, Japanese companies still hope to achieve greater development with the Chinese market, Homma said.
Today, China's GDP is four times that of Japan, and the investment environment for Japanese companies is changing drastically, Homma said.
"China is no longer just a manufacturing and consumption powerhouse, but has become an innovation and engineering powerhouse, and winning in the fast-paced and highly competitive Chinese market is to serve as a training center to enhance its competitiveness in the international market," the chamber head noted.
Official data showed that China's exports of mechanical and electrical products, including cars, surged in the first half of 2024, and contributed to over half of China's total exports of goods, which analysts said underscored the nation's progress in high-end manufacturing and industrial transformation.
However, some Western media, such as Reuters, hyped that China's increase in exports, a year-on-year growth of 6.9 percent in the first half, suggested that "manufacturers are front-loading orders in anticipation of tariffs from a growing number of trade partners."
Concerning imports, foreign media reports continued to hype "the weakened consumption sector in China." Media including Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal specifically pointed out that China's imports in June dropped 0.6 percent year-on-year, pointing to "weak domestic demand."
When asked to comment on the Western media's attribution of the fall in June imports to weak domestic demand, Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, said that such attribution is not scrupulous, and somewhat misleadingly generalized. What would the Western media say when China's imports in May increased by 5.2 percent and in Jan-May increased by 6.4 percent year-on-year? Why didn't Western media say it was the result of strong demand?
"The drop in June import is not an indication of weakening domestic demand," Li told the Global Times on Friday.
It is only seasonal, and one month's worth of data does not point to the weakening health of the economy. Even with the June drop, the total imports for the first half of the year registered an increase of 5.2 percent, Li noted. "Isn't it odd that Western media ignored that part of the trade performance and focused on interpreting the cause of June number missing expectations?"
Western media's reading on China's economic data is politically-driven and aims to satisfy the West's need to distort China's economic development and discredit China. Foreign media's interpretation of China's trade growth figures is unprofessional, unscientific, and biased, Li stressed.
Zhu Qiucheng, CEO of Ningbo New Oriental Electric Industrial Development, an exporter of pet furniture and home furnishing products, told the Global Times on Friday that a decrease in the imports of intermediate goods could be a major reason for the drop in imports in June.
"As a result of industrial upgrading and transformation, Chinese enterprises can now produce some of the intermediate goods, which they used to rely on imports, by themselves or by domestic manufacturers," said Zhu.
Intermediate goods are used to produce other goods and services in the production process, including raw materials, parts and semi-finished products.
Regarding exports, Zhu said that judging from experience, foreign tariffs have little impact on overall export performance.
At present, China's foreign trade enterprises are actively carrying out high-quality development, and exporting high-value-added products with scientific and technological content and patents, Zhu noted.
"Western media's argument about tariffs is an interpretation of trade behavior in the last month or two based on current market sentiment, which distorts trade facts," Li noted.
From January to June this year, China exported 7.14 trillion yuan ($980 billion) of mechanical and electrical products, up 8.2 percent year-on-year, whose value accounted for 58.9 percent of the nation's overall export volume during the period, China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) said on Friday.
Specifically, the export value of ships saw an increase of 91.1 percent year-on-year to reach 76.82 billion yuan. The value of vehicle exports reached 391.76 billion yuan, up by 22.2 percent year-on-year, and the export value of integrated circuits reached 542.74 billion yuan, an increase of 25.6 percent year-on-year.
"Our company and other foreign trade companies above the designated size (enterprises with annual business revenue over 20 million yuan) have witnessed stable growth in imports and exports of goods in the first half of the year," said Zhu.
Zhu noted that there are necessarily major differences among different categories. Goods of high value-added perform better in exports than low value-added products.
"China's goods export structure is in the process of shifting from traditional products to new products, such as the 'new three' products - new-energy vehicles (NEVs), lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products," Ma Jihua, a veteran economic observer, told the Global Times on Friday, attributing the growth to the nation's foreign trade structure optimization and upgrade.
"The structural adjustment of China's export goods aligns with the trade needs of major trading partners. From the perspective of high-tech products, the US and some other Western countries have politicized high-tech products," said Li.
More exports of high-value-added goods fueled China's exports in the first half of 2024, which totaled 12.13 trillion yuan, up 6.9 percent year-on-year. Imports totaled 9.04 trillion yuan, up 5.2 percent. According to GAC data, total foreign trade topped 21.17 trillion yuan, reaching a new high.
An ethical guideline for human genome editing research was released by China's Ministry of Science and Technology on Monday, which includes a strict prohibition on the use of edited germ cells, fertilized eggs, or human embryos for pregnancy and reproduction.
The guideline aims to regulate the conduct of human genome editing research and promote healthy development in this field, as the risks involved are unpredictable and have implications for the dignity and well-being of individuals, as well as potential ethical, legal, and social issues that could impact human society.
It is currently forbidden to conduct any clinical research on germline genome editing, according to the guideline. Clinical research should only be considered if the benefits and risks, as well as other available options, are fully understood and weighed, safety and efficacy issues have been addressed, a broad social consensus has been achieved, and the study has been subjected to rigorous and prudent assessment.
He Jiankui, a genome-editing researcher at the Southern University of Science and Technology of China in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, shocked the world in 2018 when he claimed to have created the world's first genetically modified humans.
He was sentenced to three years in prison in December 2019 for illegally conducting human embryo gene editing.
The basic principles outlined in the guideline include enhancing human well-being, respecting human dignity, and safeguarding the fundamental rights and interests of research participants, including the right to information, privacy, and autonomy.
The research must be carried out by carefully assessing the conditions for the use of human genome editing technologies, and ensuring risk monitoring throughout the process with appropriate supervision, according to the guideline. It also puts forward principles of fairness and impartiality, as well as openness and transparency.
The guideline also noted general requirements and special requirements for human genome editing research, which should be given special attention at different stages of basic and preclinical research and clinical research into human genome editing.
In China, an increasing number of people are enjoying the companionship of pets and treating them as part of the family.
Against the backdrop of rapid development in the pet economy, China's pet food market has experienced explosive growth. However, as the market expands, issues with product quality have emerged.
Recently, a series of news reports have uncovered that some pet food manufacturers, in pursuit of higher profits, resort to using low-quality ingredients for dog, and even falsely label nutritional content, misleading consumers.
In March, a scandal involving "toxic dog food" from Xingtai in North China's Hebei Province, the largest dog food production cluster in China, came to light, causing panic among pet owners across China.
This incident exposed the dark underbelly of the industry and the lack of effective regulation. Some unscrupulous companies have been found falsifying the nutritional content and ingredients of their products, such as overstating the chicken content while using cheaper chicken meal as a substitute.
Worse still, to mask the risks of inferior ingredients, some manufacturers excessively add montmorillonite to pet food, which could severely impact pet health over time.
Given the ineffective enforcement of industry standards, pet owners often find themselves in a battle of wits with unscrupulous manufacturers to ensure the dietary safety of their pets.
With the pet market continuing to grow, there is an urgent need to improve industry standards and strengthen regulation. The question of how to expose the chaos in the industry, attract attention from all sectors of society, and drive the pet food industry toward a healthier and more transparent direction is now a major concern, analysts pointed out.
'Toxic' pet food
In Xingtai's Nanhe district, recognized as the nation's largest pet food production base with an annual output of over 1.3 million tons, accounting for 60 percent of China's market share, the practice of "using the worst materials for the most expensive feed" was once an unwritten industry rule.
Investigations have revealed that some manufacturers produced pet food with inferior materials for higher profits, even mixing stone and feather meal into their products, as reported by the China National Radio (CNR).
Following the exposure, the Hebei Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs responded by investigating the involved companies and taking samples for testing. An official from the Nanhe district agricultural department told the Global Times that the pet food industry is a key development focus for the region, and the scandal has had a significant impact.
A pet food manufacturer in Xingtai confirmed to the Global Times that recent inspections by relevant departments have been strict. He said that dog food purchases are now reliable.
On the sales page of a manufacturer selling pet food on 1688, Alibaba's B2B trading platform, the cheapest dog and cat food from Xingtai sells for less than 10 yuan ($1.43) per kilogram, with different products claiming to cater to puppies, small, medium, or large dogs, and containing various ingredients like beef, fruits and vegetables.
Despite many pet food companies claiming to offer high-quality customized dog and cat food, actual product quality remains poor, with nutritional values often misrepresented. An investigation published by the CNR into a company that outsources dog food production found significant discrepancies between claimed and actual protein content.
Additionally, the use of montmorillonite to absorb toxins has been excessive in "toxic" dog food, reaching about 5 percent when only 0.2 percent is necessary. Overuse of such substances and flavor enhancers to mask the taste of poor-quality feed can have detrimental effects on pet health, according to media reports.
Pet owners vs manufacturers Xin Rui heard of "toxic dog food" for the first time when she adopted a dog from a stray dog shelter in Beijing.
She bought some dog food and dog snacks on the e-commerce platform Tmall the day the dog shelter owner sent the dog to her home.
"Toxic dog food," the stray dog shelter owner said disdainfully with a sideways glance at the bags of dog food casually lying in the living room.
"Honestly, I totally had no idea what she meant when she said the word 'toxic dog food.' I mean, I trust in Tmall supermarket and have bought many things, including food and snacks for myself on the platform. I carefully selected those products to welcome the dog. I did not understand why she said so. I felt so confused," Xin told the Global Times.
Xin bought another bag of dog food from the shelter owner as she recommended in consideration to help the dog get used to its new home sooner. It did not take a long time for Xin to tell the differences between these products. It took a few days for the dog to get used to the food recommended by the stray dog base owner. But the dog entirely refused to eat the food bought on Tmall, even when Xin mixed it with canned meat.
"Dogs are smart. They are helping owners to select safe food," Xin said.
She tried four brands of dog food in the nearly two years after adopting the dog. "I do not trust the base owner as she did not tell me where she got the food. Her price is much lower than that in official stores, making me suspicious about the quality and authenticity of the food," Xin said.
Now Xin buys food from a pet shop near her home. "The employees at the shop can provide official pet nutritionist certificates and they treat pets very nicely, so I choose to trust them. I hope they do not disappoint me," she said.
Actually, Xingtai's case is not unique, and Xin's worry is not unprovoked either.
Many pet owners have taken to social media platforms complaining that their dogs died or got seriously sick, for example by getting pancreatitis, after eating cheap food bought from online channels. Some of the cheap foods were revealed to have had dust and saw powder mixed in.
Even well-known pet food brands are not always trustworthy.
In April 2022, a pet owner in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, reported that his cats were poisoned after consuming Singen cat food, with one of them dying. After seeking information online, he discovered that many other families had encountered similar issues. Statistics gathered from 90 individuals revealed similar issues happened with 239 cats, resulting death of 95 cats, reported the Jiemian News.
Singen, founded in the island of Taiwan, claims to have a 50-year history of production. The company's business scope includes the production of veterinary drugs, feed, and feed additives.
Besides the issue of manufacturers falsifying their own products, there have been instances of factories producing counterfeit pet food of major brands.
On March 21, Shanghai-based Observer News reported that the local police department, after thorough investigations, dismantled three dark factories in Central China's Hunan Province and South China's Guangdong Province involved in manufacturing and selling counterfeit cat food of a certain brand.
According to a report on pet market consumption released by e-commerce platform JD.com in late 2023, the number of pet-owning households in China exceeded 100 million in 2023, increasing from 98 million in 2022 to 105.65 million. Among them, the number of pet dogs in 2023 was 51.75 million, a 1.1 percent increase from 2022.
"For China, there is a great potential for the improvement and development of the pet industry. With the improvement of residents' income levels and quality of life, the concept of pet ownership is gradually shifting from guarding the home to emotional companionship. It is expected that in the next 10 years, China will become the world's largest pet market," said Qin Yuchang, president of the pet food branch of the China Feed Industry Association.
Regulating the industry
According to Qin, China's pet industry already reached over 490 billion yuan in 2020, becoming the third-largest service market after Europe and the US. The market size is estimated to reach 800 billion yuan by 2025.
In addition, there has been a significant increase in demand for imported pet feed, with over 600 pet feed import registration certificates issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 2021, a 7.3-fold increase from 2016.
However, compared with the rapidly growing industry, there is still a significant gap in the standards of pet feed in China, which seriously slows the industry's development needs, especially in the standards for pet food additives, with only over 100 of the more than 400 additives having been standardized.
"Some companies' pet food cannot meet the nutritional requirements for young animals, as reflected in the high failure rates of water-soluble chlorides, total calcium, and total phosphorus content. The quality control of animal-derived raw materials, such as meat meal, by companies is insufficient," said Fan Xia, executive deputy director of the National Feed Quality Inspection and Testing Center in Beijing.
In 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China issued the "Regulations on the Management of Pet Feed," establishing a standardized management system and placing the pet feed industry onto a path of standardized development.
The vast majority of pet feed products have already achieved production certification, but from the market response, there are still some cases of substandard production and production without certification in the production process. It is necessary to increase the publicity and implementation of regulations, and companies must carry out production and operation in accordance with the law and regulations, experts said.
Moreover, many pet feed operators, especially e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce platforms on the internet, have not strictly controlled the quality and safety of their products, leading to the influx of products of varying quality into the market. This requires the strengthening of the supervision of the pet feed industry, continuously improving inspection and testing technology, optimizing the regulatory system. Companies must strictly adhere to the bottom line of quality and safety, experts pointed out.
At the same time, enterprises and operators who violate relevant laws and regulations must be resolutely ordered to rectify, and those who cause serious injury will be held accountable, in order to effectively create a healthy dog food market, Qin stressed.
