China’s taste for donkey spurs an unlikely trade with Pakistan

ISLAMABAD – China’s taste for an exotic meat and a prized collagen is helping seed an unusual business hundreds of kilometres away in Pakistan’s arid south-west.

A slaughterhouse in Pakistan’s Balochistan province is processing hundreds of donkeys for customers in the world’s second-biggest economy.

While the meat is not consumed locally because of religious beliefs, it is considered a delicacy in parts of China.

But more importantly, the hides are used to make ejiao, a highly valued ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine.

Hangeng Group, which runs the abattoir and processing plants near Gwadar, is betting on growing overseas demand to quadruple daily slaughter to 800 donkeys within months.

The business could generate about US$5 million (S$6.36 million) a month in foreign-exchange earnings within six months, rising to US$7 million within two years, chief executive Andy Liao said in an interview in Islamabad.

That is still a fraction of the estimated 2.3 million to 4.8 million donkeys slaughtered annually for their hides to make ejiao, according to a 2023 US Congressional Research Service report, which pegged the Chinese market for the traditional medicine at about US$7.8 billion in 2021.

Ejiao is made from collagen extracted by boiling donkey skin.

It is commonly used as a blood tonic to treat anaemia, as well as to boost immunity and improve sleep.

It is also used in cosmetics and is believed to have anti-ageing benefits. 

Demand for the gelatin compound is booming in China, but the supply of donkey hides needed to make it is dwindling.

China’s donkey population has plunged as millions of the animals are slaughtered each year, driving buyers to seek supplies from Africa and elsewhere.

In 2024, the African Union endorsed a continent-wide moratorium on the slaughter of donkeys for their skins and related exports after an alarming decline in their population.

In a June 2025 report, animal welfare organisation Brooke estimated that Africa’s donkey population could halve to about 14 million by 2040, if the continent-wide ban on the donkey skin trade is not enforced.

Chinese buyers are now seeking newer sources, including Pakistan, Brazil and Australia.

The Islamic republic had also previously restricted donkey hides exports after the authorities found the animal’s meat was being passed off as beef and mutton in some cities. 

However, the moratorium was lifted a decade later, according to a Commerce Ministry notification, opening the way for the country to tap into China’s growing demand.

The donkey population in the South Asian nation is growing and exceeded six million in 2025, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey, giving entrepreneurs such as Liao an opportunity to build the industry around an animal that has traditionally been used for transport and farm work.

Liao’s company started building the Pakistan facility six years ago and has invested about US$50 million so far.

It employs nine Chinese managers and roughly 500 local workers, who handle everything from slaughter and packaging to transport.

The company briefly halted operations in May, citing bureaucratic hurdles, before resuming business after government approvals.

Hangeng is a strategic partner of China’s biggest ejiao producer Dong-E-E-Jiao Co, according to its posts on social media platform X. 

The company sources donkeys from 11 suppliers, with each animal tagged for traceability, and aims to expand to 50 farms eventually.

It has so far exported five containers of meat and hides, with its first shipment reaching China’s Tianjin port in June after the government green-lit exports.

Liao plans to expand into breeding and set up a laboratory, before eventually branching into seafood exports. BLOOMBERG