The 25th World’s Poultry Congress (WPC2016) co-organized by the World’s Poultry Science Association (WPSA) and Chinese Association of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine (CAAV) opened in Beijing, China, on September 5.
The WPC returns to Asia for the first time since 1988, when Japan hosted the 20th edition in Nagoya.
Making its debut at the China National Convention Center, close to 4,000 visitors have come to learn how the poultry industry around the world is confronting global resource shortages, food safety issues and environmental protection, along with ways to promote the sustainability of the poultry industry by ensuring the effective supply and the quality safety of poultry products.
During his welcome speech, Ning Yang, president-designate and chair of the WPSA Organizing Committee, extended his welcome to visitors from 72 countries and his appreciation for the support from 21 companies from China and abroad.
Chinese opportunities remain
In the past 30 years, China’s poultry production has evolved from the household sideline business into an important industry of animal husbandry. Significant progress has been made in organized poultry production, intensification and specialization with large-scale poultry farming accounting for a larger proportion.
In 2015, China’s egg output reached 29.99 million tons, accounting for 40 percent of global production, while annual per capita egg consumption reached 21.8 kg, making the country the largest producer and consumer of eggs.
However, according to Edir Silva, WPSA president, the huge size of the Chinese market means there are still numerous opportunities for poultry industry to grow.
With an overall theme of “quality and safety of poultry products: meeting humans’ needs,” WPC 2016 is addressing a broad spectrum of topics of importance to the state of the industry along with trends, challenges, solutions to dwindling resources, biosecurity, animal welfare, and the frontiers of poultry research and technology.
