Import guide · East Asia
China poultry import guide: trade evidence, permits and border steps
China reported the world's largest poultry-meat import value in 2024 (HS 0207: USD 2.94 billion, 942,278 t). Imports are only possible from countries and products on the General Administration of Customs (GACC) eligible-meat list, through overseas plants registered with GACC.
Checked . Trade figures are 2025 and 2024 UN Comtrade data published by World Bank WITS, by product code; 2025 reporting is still incomplete. They are historical evidence only — not proof that any origin or plant is eligible today, has stock, or will quote.
Trade evidence by product lane, 2025 and 2024
| Product lane | HS code | 2025 imports | 2024 imports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poultry meat | 0207 | USD 1.84 billion609,756 t | USD 2.94 billion942,278 t |
| Day-old chicks and live birdsImported birds at this value per bird are mostly breeding stock, not commercial chicks. | 0105.11 | USD 50.73 million1.25 million birds | USD 52.77 million1.47 million birds |
- No 2024 China row was available for HS 0407 eggs in the WITS table checked.
Official import authority, permit and certificate sources
Eligibility is specific to the commodity, origin country and region, establishment and current disease status, and it changes. Check the current official list for the exact consignment. How rules differ for live birds, hatching eggs, eggs, meat and machinery.
- GACC — list of meat products eligible for export to China by country Country and product eligibility
- GACC — assessment and registration procedure for meat exporters How plants become eligible
- GACC online query — registered overseas establishments Establishment registration check
Disease control, biosecurity and hatchery projects
For buyers building or equipping a farm or hatchery in China. Each note is limited to what the linked official page says (People's Republic of China); checked . It is not legal advice, a disease-status check or a statement that any design or supplier will be approved.
- Disease control
The Animal Epidemic Prevention Law requires anyone who finds animals infected or suspected of infection to report immediately to the local agriculture and rural affairs authority or animal disease control body, and provides for outbreak blockades.
Chinese-language legal text hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA).
MARA — Animal Epidemic Prevention Law of the PRC - Farm and hatchery registration, approval or biosecurity
Animal farms must meet animal epidemic prevention conditions and hold a compliance certificate. In poultry farms, the hatchery must be separated from the rearing area, have hatching-egg fumigation and disinfection facilities, and run a one-way flow with no crossing or backflow.
Chinese-language MARA measures (动物防疫条件审查办法).
MARA — Measures for the review of animal epidemic prevention conditions
Confirm locally before design or order
- Which county-level agriculture authority reviews the farm or hatchery layout for the compliance certificate.
- Provincial rules on site distances, land use and environmental approval.
Ask farm and hatchery suppliers
- Show the one-way flow on the layout: egg receiving, storage, setting, hatching, chick handling and dispatch, with separate clean and dirty routes for people, eggs, chicks, waste and vehicles.
- Which cleaning, disinfection and hatching-egg disinfection steps the design supports, and which consumables and procedures stay with the buyer.
- Which drawings, data sheets and declarations the supplier will provide for the local permit or approval file — and which the buyer's engineer must prepare.
- How mortality, hatchery waste and wash water leave the site, and who supplies that equipment.
- Which performance figures (hatchability, chick quality, production) are design assumptions: they depend on flock health, egg quality and management, so treat them as supplier statements, not guarantees.
International baseline: WOAH Terrestrial Code, chapter 6.5 — biosecurity procedures in poultry production. Answers are supplier statements until documents are checked.
Border entry steps
- Check the product and origin against the GACC eligible-meat list, then the exact plant against the registered-establishment query.
- The importer files the customs declaration with the official veterinary certificate agreed between the origin authority and GACC.
- Prepackaged food needs Chinese-language labelling; inspection and sampling take place at the port of entry.
Buyer checklist and product specification
- Name the exact product: species, cut or form, chilled or frozen, packing, labelling language and shelf life required on arrival.
- State the volume per shipment and per year, delivery window and Incoterm, and the total programme or lot value (USD 250,000 or more).
- Confirm who is the licensed importer of record and who holds the import permit or registration.
- Ask every offering plant to show it is on the destination's current establishment list for that product — before price is discussed.
- Eligibility is listed by product: confirm that the cuts, paws or offal you need are covered for that origin, not only the country.
- Recheck origin suspensions: MAPA's 21 October 2026 update lists China suspending poultry meat from Brazil's Santa Catarina state after a Newcastle disease case.
Cold-chain and live-animal handling
- State the contract temperature (frozen product is commonly shipped at −18 °C or colder), the destination's legal limit and the data-logger evidence required.
Send an RFQ
HatchMatch coordinates sourcing and RFQs for commercial buyers. It does not own farms, hatcheries, slaughterhouses or stock, and cannot guarantee supply, customs clearance, delivery, certification or price. Requests start at USD 250,000; buyers pay nothing. Every brief is reviewed by a person before any supplier is approached, and your identity stays private — we aim to reply within two business days.
Chicks, hatching eggs and breeder stock are scoped inside a hatchery or breeder project brief. Sourcing other agri-food commodities? Global B2B Group commodity sourcing.