China does not have a comprehensive national animal welfare law, but multiple sectoral laws contain welfare provisions. The Wildlife Protection Law (revised 2022) strengthened provisions against wildlife trafficking and captive wildlife cruelty. The Animal Epidemic Prevention Law (revised 2021) includes some livestock welfare provisions. Most significantly, draft animal welfare legislation has been circulating in academic and policy circles since the 2010s, with renewed momentum in 2024–2025.
In 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs published new guidelines for farm animal welfare in intensive poultry and swine production — the first formal national guidelines specifically addressing welfare outcomes rather than just disease control. These guidelines are advisory rather than legally binding but represent a significant normative shift. Implementation in certified export supply chains is beginning.
Shanghai and several other major cities have enacted companion animal welfare ordinances that go beyond national minimums — requiring microchipping, leash laws, and basic welfare standards for pet keeping. These municipal-level experiments may prefigure national legislation.
China's companion animal sector has grown explosively — from approximately 50 million companion animals in 2010 to an estimated 200 million cats and dogs in 2025. The petcare market exceeds 500 billion yuan annually. This growth has been accompanied by rapidly changing social attitudes: urban Chinese pet owners increasingly view their pets as family members with welfare interests deserving protection.
Chinese social media platforms (Weibo, Douyin/TikTok, WeChat) have been powerful vectors for animal welfare advocacy. Viral videos of animal abuse generate massive public condemnation and have pressured local authorities to prosecute animal cruelty cases even in the absence of comprehensive legislation. The "anti-cruelty" sentiment on Chinese social media is a significant force for welfare improvement.
Stray animal management in Chinese cities is transitioning from mass culling to mixed approaches including sheltering and TNR in some municipalities. Animal welfare NGOs including the Lucky Cat Rescue, HSUS China partner organizations, and numerous local groups have expanded significantly.
China is the world's largest producer of pork, poultry, and aquaculture products. Following the devastating African Swine Fever outbreaks (2018–2020, killing an estimated 40–50% of Chinese pigs), the industry has rebuilt on a more industrialized model with large-scale modern facilities. These new facilities often have better built-in welfare standards than the backyard operations they replaced — but welfare remains secondary to biosecurity and production efficiency in regulatory priorities.
Export-oriented supply chains are increasingly subject to welfare requirements from EU, US, and Japanese buyers. Chinese poultry, aquaculture, and increasingly pork exporters are implementing welfare improvements to meet retailer codes of conduct. The China Chain Store & Franchise Association has encouraged member retailers to develop animal welfare sourcing policies, reaching a significant share of the domestic market.
Bear bile farming — the extraction of bile from captive bears via surgically implanted catheters — remains legal in China despite sustained international and domestic campaigning. Approximately 20,000 bears are held in bile farms. Synthetic alternatives to bear bile are available for most medical applications; advocacy organizations including Animals Asia and the World Animal Protection campaign for a phase-out.
TCM uses products from hundreds of animal species. Some, like bear bile and tiger bone, are highly welfare- and conservation-damaging. China's wildlife protection law has strengthened restrictions on some wild-sourced TCM ingredients, while simultaneously legitimizing farmed alternatives for others — a contested approach that welfare and conservation organizations argue maintains demand and farming incentives. In 2025, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and CITES parties are in ongoing dialogue about wildlife trade in TCM ingredients.
China has made genuine progress in some wildlife protection areas. Giant panda conservation has been a flagship success — population recovery from under 1,000 to over 1,800+ individuals, with wild population growing. South China tiger conservation breeding programs continue. Yangtze River protections (10-year fishing ban from 2021) are showing early evidence of fish population recovery — critically important for Yangtze finless porpoise and other species.
The 2022 Olympic Winter Games winter sports development has created some habitat fragmentation in mountain areas — wildlife corridors are a growing priority in northeast China where Amur tigers and leopards are recovering. Camera trap networks monitoring tiger and leopard recovery represent some of the most encouraging wildlife welfare news in China's recent history.
Tags: China Animal Welfare Legislation Companion Animals Farm Animals 2025