Pakistan emerges as new donkey supplier to China: report

Pakistan is emerging as a new supplier of donkeys to China, as growing demand for donkey hides used in the traditional Chinese medicine ejiao opens a niche export market for the country, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

The expansion comes as Chinese demand for donkey hides grows while domestic supplies decline. The hides are used to produce ejiao, a collagen-rich gelatin made by boiling donkey skin and widely used in traditional Chinese medicine.

As per Bloomberg, China’s ejiao market was valued at around $7.8 billion in 2021, according to a 2023 US Congressional Research Service report, which estimated that 2.3 million to 4.8 million donkeys are slaughtered annually worldwide for their hides.

With the donkey population dwindling in China, the world’s second-largest economy has prompted buyers to seek supplies from overseas markets, including Pakistan, Brazil and Australia.

Pakistan has an estimated donkey population exceeding six million, and China is a significant market, using donkey meat in cuisine and for Ejiao, a traditional Chinese medicine gelatin.

The South Asian country has been preparing to export donkey meat and hides to China, a process that has involved several years of negotiations, regulatory development, and infrastructure setup.

In October 2024, Pakistan and China signed a protocol during Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang’s visit, outlining quarantine requirements for the export of donkey meat and hides.

In April 2025, the government announced that commercial export of donkey meat to China would boost Pakistan’s trade, with plans to establish commercial donkey breeding and processing facilities in Gwadar. Chinese enterprises were allowed to set up farms, slaughterhouses, and export facilities in Gwadar’s Export Processing Zone, promoting foreign investment under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

In May 2026, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) officially approved the export of donkey meat from Gwadar North Free Zone, strictly adhering to the import policy of the destination country.

By July 2026, a Chinese entrepreneur named Andy successfully established a slaughterhouse in Gwadar and commenced exports to China. His company, Hangeng Group, plans to process up to 216,000 donkeys annually. He invested RMB 5 million (approximately $740,000) in a comprehensive digital traceability system to track each animal from the farmer to the Chinese customer, ensuring transparency, food safety, and compliance.

As per Bloomberg, Hangeng Group, which operates a donkey slaughterhouse and processing facilities near Gwadar in Balochistan, plans to increase its daily slaughter capacity to 800 donkeys within months, betting on rising demand from Chinese buyers.

“The business could generate about $5 million a month in foreign-exchange earnings within six months, rising to $7 million within two years,” Chief Executive Officer Andy Liao said in an interview in Islamabad.

The company has invested around $50 million in Pakistan over the past six years and currently employs nine Chinese managers and around 500 local workers involved in slaughtering, processing, packaging and transportation.

Andy Liao said the company plans to expand into donkey breeding and laboratory facilities, while eventually diversifying into seafood exports.

In July 2026, the Prime Ministers of China and Pakistan agreed on an annual export target of 200,000 donkeys (meat, bones, and hides). It is estimated that during fiscal year 2026-27, approximately 15,000 tonnes of meat, 20,000 tonnes of bones, and 216,000 tonnes of hides could be exported, potentially generating between $375 and $400 million in foreign exchange annually.