Yisheng Group, China’s leading firm in broiler chick imports, recently noted continued tightness in supplies of imported breeding chicks, with 2025 imports down over 10%, and 2026 imports being minimal.
Domestic production of breeding chicks typically accounts for about 60% of chicks, with the rest being imported.
Imports have been frequently disrupted in recent years. A reduction in international flights during Covid created problems for importers, and more recently there have been problems related to avian flu outbreaks in exporting countries.
Imports have been sourced from a wide range of countries in recent years due to outbreaks of avian flu, with Yisheng Group starting imports from France in 2025. These were stopped in January 2026 due to an outbreak of avian flu, with Yisheng Group reporting at the time it was not sourcing breeding chicks from any other countries.
In 2026, there have only been a small number of breeding chick imports in June reported by customs.
Yisheng notes this lack of imports will affect the supply of commercial broiler chicks in 14 months and that the supply of broiler chicks will remain tight in the future. They further note that downstream companies continue to expand broiler production, leading to stronger demand for chicks.
