Aquatic Products

Before the introduction of the reform and opening, the outputs of freshwater and saltwater fish, relying on natural rivers, lakes and fisheries near the sea, were low. But since 1978, China has stressed artificial aquatic products breeding and at the same time devoted great efforts to developing deep-sea fishing. As a result, the output of aquatic products has risen greatly, increasing by 2 million tons, on average, every year. Now, more than 20 deep-sea fishing companies have been set up in China, and wholly Chinese-owned and Chinese-foreign joint enterprises have also been established abroad engaging in this business.

 Animal Products

China has more than 300 million ha of exploitable grasslands, distributed mainly throughout Inner Mongolia, the basin between the Tianshan and Altai mountains in Xinjiang and on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. China has great numbers of over 400 species of domestic animals, including pigs, cattle, sheep, horses, donkeys, mules, camels, chickens, ducks, geese and rabbits. Since 1978, animal husbandry has developed rapidly; the outputs of meat, eggs, milk, and leather products have doubled and redoubled, and they have been exported in large quantities.