China is the largest feed producer of the world, In the year of the 2011, beginning of "12th 5-Year Plan", the output of industry feed reach to 181 million yuan, accounting for 24.6% of the global total feed output of commodities. In 2015, total output of nationwide industry feed reach to 200 million tons, being first of the world.

Seen from the production figures, China can be described as big feed country, but seen from a comprehensive perspective, China is still not a strong feed country. In recent, Ministry of Agriculture issued a "national feed industry 13th 5-Year Plan"(hereinafter referred to as "plan"), come up with the aim of transform from big feed country to strong feed country.

"We formulate the 'plan' is to enhance the guidance, promote the feed industry to improve the quality, efficiency and competitiveness comprehensively, and better play to the support services for modern aquaculture industry and drive to the agricultural structure transfer." Said by director of the Animal Husbandry Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Feed Work Office Director Ma Youxiang in the interpretation for "planning".

Opportunities and Challenges Coexist

Feed industry is the important industry to combine the planting and breeding, it provide material support to modern breeding, supply appreciation method to crop and its production and processing by-products, be closely bound up to the safety and stability supplying of animal products.　　

"Feed industry is an important part of breeding production system, also one of the important mark to measure the breeding level of modernization." Said Ma Youxiang, under the new situation of promoting the agricultural supply side structural reform, planting and breeding are all adjusting the structure, changing the method and strengthen the weakness, feed industry must comply with the new demands of new situation, accelerate the pace of transformation and upgrading.

"Feed industry's largest downstream demand industry is the livestock and aquaculture industry, livestock stock and aquaculture directly affect the amount of feed demand." Zhuo Chuang Information Group Livestock Industry Group Manager Li Xia said in an interview with the "China Science" reporter.　　

According to the "National Agricultural Modernization Program (2016-2020)", the expected output of meat, dairy and farmed aquatic products by 2020 will be 90 million tons, 41 million tons and 52.4 million tons respectively, an increase of 4.3 percent over 2015 respectively. 5.9% and 6%, egg production is expected to 30 million tons, basically the same as in 2015.

Generally speaking, as China's economic development going into the new normal, breeding industry going into a new stage of production slowdown, structural optimization, quality upgrading, layout adjusting, and industrial integrating. Ma Youxiang expressed that the change of breeding industry will certainly transmitted to feed industry. Seeing from the overall, Chinese feed industry will going into a slow expanding period. In the next 5 years, feed consumption is expected to an average annual growth of about 4 million tons, an increase of about 1.9%. Despite the slowdown, with the breeding comprehensive technological progress, utilization still have room for improvement, the use of efficiency desire to increase more than 3%. "Although the growth rate is slowed down compared with the past; but in absolute terms, it is still a rare opportunity." Ma Youxiang said.

"Plan" also point out that the feed industry is facing with challenges of harder market spatial expansion, more stringent quality safety requirements, more stringent resources and environmental constraints. For example, in the rural non-point source pollution control, livestock and poultry manure treatment task is arduous, the external environment change requires green development of feed products, balanced emission reduction, discharge standards and other environmental requirements. "Environmental policy will have a certain extent influence for feed sales in short-term, but in the long run, it is more conducive to breeding and feed industry standardization, large-scale development." Li Xia analyze.

Integration Progress Accelerated

Data display that at the end of 2015, in nation wide, there are 6772 feed factory those make mixed feed and concentration feed, , 4071 less than in 2010. 48 feed enterprises with an annual output of more than 500,000 tons, and feed production accounting for 56.5% of the national total. Among them, 32 feed enterprises with an annual output of more than 1 million tons, account for 51% of the total output.

Over the past five years, feed companies presented by the development trend of reduction, and will continue in the "13th 5-Year Plan" period. "Plan" pointed out that the gap between large enterprises with strong competitive and small and medium enterprises is continuously growing, During "13th 5-Year", integration efforts for advanced enterprises to mergers and reorganization small and medium enterprises will further increase.

"Competition focus now is construction of industry chain, many large enterprises have their own breeding or close cooperation with breeding enterprises, downstream of the industry chain is critical." Said by professor Feng Dingyuan, College of Animal Science and Technology, South China Agricultural University, in the interview of "Chinese Science".

Actually, "Transition" is always the focus of feed industry in recent years, some large scale enterprises begin to transformation and upgrading, distribution to the entire industry chain. For example, New Hope Liuhe made it’s fortune by feed, main business is feed, too, but it began to strategy transition, distribute to the entire industry chain. Wens Group raise chiken ans pig as focus, feed production has its own demand channels.

"Plan" pointed out that industry internal integration, entire industry chain and the development of globalization will become a decisive factor for feed enterprises to become bigger and stronger the in sustainable development. "More large scale enterprises will continuously promote the entire industry chain of feed raw material-feed-breeding-meat product-cooked product." Li Xia told interviewer, "In recent years, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, Africa as new market, feed industry develops in a fast speed, domestic large scale feed enterprise will accelerate the plan of globalization."

In the background of industry "shuffle" speed up, where is the development space of small and medium enterprises? How can they not be eliminated?

Feng Dingyuan suggested that first of all, small and medium enterprises should take the road of dislocation development, characteristics development and differential development; second, mall and medium enterprises adopt "alliance" or other forms to take advantages of large scale enterprises in raw materials procurement and technology sharing, at the same time small and medium enterprises can also be combined to make up for lack of procurement, price, resource sharing; third, deep cooperation with the downstream industry chain, while small and medium enterprises should also strengthen technological innovation and product development, attention and ensure on the industry quality and service levels.

Regional Layout Adjustment from Large to Strong　

In addition to the integration, mergers and reorganization, feed industry enterprises industrial layout will also be adjusted in the "13th 5-Year Plan" period to conform to new requirements  of breeding industry restructuring and food reform, animal husbandry strategic development, promote coordinated development of different regional feed processing industry and planting and breeding industry.

According to "Plan", Northeast, Northwest and Southwest will be the accelerate development area of feed industry. Three provinces in Northeast China grain output is large, but breeding industry development is relatively behind, they are the main transfer carry on area of the breeding regional distribution adjusting and have great development potential of feed industry. Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang and other regions have large grassland area, herbivorous animal husbandry development foundation is good, agriculture and animal husbandry development has great potential. The species of local livestock and poultry in Tibet, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other areas is various, and the conditions for the development of special animal husbandry according to local conditions are good. The traditional farming households have a higher proportion and large-scale development potential.

At the same time, Shandong, Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi being stable development zone. Affected by the land carrying capacity, environmental pollution and the overall function of regional positioning factors, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Zhejiang being moderate development areas,

"By 5 years of hard work, feed industry has basically realize the transmission from big to strong, providing a massy material base to breeding industry to increase the quality, improve the efficiency, promote environment protection." This is the feed industry overall goal suggested in the "13th 5-Year Plan".

"The key for feed industry to promote supply side structural reform is to firmly establish and implement the new development concept, the center work is to improve the quality, efficiency and competitiveness, comprehensively enhance the industrial quality." Ma Youxiang said. He expressed that in order to comprehensively improve the quality, efficiency and competitiveness, firstly is to combine the production with management, guarantee the safety; next is to innovate, increase the quality and efficiency; the third is to insist on market-led, to stimulate vitality, while based on domestic and open up international.