Farm Animal Welfare Science in China—A Bibliometric Review of Chinese Literature

Abstract

Farm animal welfare in the People’s Republic of China (henceforth, China) is not well represented in the international scientific literature. This may lead researchers, advocates and those with agricultural partnerships in China to assume that animal welfare is not a field of interest there. This study reports a literature review of published pig and poultry welfare research in China using Chinese scientific databases. We aimed to determine which areas of welfare research have recently received academic attention in China. From an understanding of areas being studied, current and emerging priority areas for research could be determined. This study identified 854 academic publications citing pig or chicken welfare in China published between 2008 and 2018. Within these publications, two broader areas of significant attention were addressed in the context of animal welfare; yield and product quality, such as feeding, biosecurity and antimicrobial resistance, including immunity and second, the relationship of animal welfare with the Chinese philosophy of ‘ecological agriculture.’ Holistic systems were advocated to maximize sustainability and maintain a healthy environment, such as the creation of fermented bedding for pigs. Environmental enrichment was also a focus of attention, demonstrating an interest in animals’ mental welfare, which was usually conjectured from their behavior. Few of the articles were translated into English or other languages and therefore most were largely unavailable to the English-speaking global scientific community. This presents an opportunity to provide relevant animal welfare knowledge, which could improve animal welfare globally. China is a global animal trade leader and the home of the largest agricultural industries in the world. An increase in collaboration on animal welfare research and understanding of the advancements that have been made in China, as reviewed in this manuscript, could advance farm animal welfare from a global perspective.

Chinese Public Attitudes towards, and Knowledge of, Animal Welfare

“…It may also be due to an increase in information regarding diseases that can be transmitted from wild animals, which up until recently few people were aware of [ 45 ]. Consumers consider farm animal welfare as an attribute of the food quality concept, with more importance given to this than to other attributes [ 46 , 47 ]. There is evidence from this survey that the Chinese population has responded positively to understanding the reasons why animals should care for, and how animal welfare affects other aspects, such as food safety, in China.…”

Employee Management and Animal Care: A Comparative Ethnography of Two Large-Scale Dairy Farms in China

“…For example, Farm A’s nutritionist was a well-respected advisor for farms across China. Although there is increasing Chinese literature about animal welfare [ 20 ], academic journals are not a common source of knowledge for Chinese livestock stakeholders [ 27 ]. Future efforts should focus on disseminating animal welfare knowledge from academia to influential leaders and workers—for example through extension and collaboration with veterinarians and nutritionists [ 30 ].…”

“…Shi [ 12 ] suggests that the direct translation of ‘animal welfare’ and its simplistic explanations during initial promotion led to misunderstanding. Presently, there is low but increasing interest in animal welfare by the Chinese government [ 13 , 14 ], agricultural industry leaders [ 15 ], students [ 16 , 17 ], and the general public [ 18 , 19 ], and an increasing body of Chinese academic literature that explores questions related to animal welfare [ 12 , 20 ].…”

The impact of marketing campaigns deterring the supply and demand of endangered wildlife in Kenya and China

“…Empathy is defined as “a state of emotional arousal that stems from the apprehension or comprehension of another's affective state” (Zhou et al, 2003, p. 270)—feelings of what others feel. While the concept of animal welfare is a rather new idea in China and often perceived as a Western concept incompatible with Chinese culture (Davey, 2006), Chinese attitudes toward animal welfare issues have significantly changed (Sinclair et al, 2020). Thus, for Chinese consumers, upon exposure to marketing campaigns depicting wildlife in their natural habitat of how these animals should live (=positive communication), should elicit empathy.…”