world mirror
No other country in the world eats more pork than China. In order to reduce costs, industrial animal husbandry is used. Pig skyscrapers are a new trend.
The sight is surprising: huge high-rise buildings stand in the middle of the mountains in southern China. The facility is not intended for humans, but for pigs. 30,000 animals live here in the 13-story colossi for breeding and fattening. Building land is expensive in China, so the Yangxiang company built higher. Filtered air and feed are pumped to the animals via long pipes.
The pigs should have as little contact as possible with people and nature – a hygiene measure. Two years after submitting the application, one may ARD-Team accompany the workers in the high-rise building – for a day, on one of the floors for the breeding sows. Five workers look after 1,000 sows and their offspring here. As much as possible is automated: the hoses with water and food lead directly to each sow, and the workers can trigger feeding at the push of a button in the control room.
Factory farming not questioned
The workers only say positive things when they talk about the conditions here. Factory farming is generally not questioned. On the contrary, for worker Lu Changtong, the high-rise buildings are very modern. “If the pigs were outside, there would be sun, rain and they wouldn’t be able to find enough food in difficult weather conditions. They would be like homeless people,” she says. “Here they have everything they need. They will always be full and won’t be left out in the cold. Of course they are happier.”
Every four months the sows are allowed to move freely in the windowless room for about an hour. Otherwise they are in the box and have just enough space to lie down.
Pigs in the crate of the high-rise breeding building in southern China. They are only allowed to move freely every four months – for one hour.
Growing prosperity, more meat consumption
Half of all breeding pigs worldwide now live in China. With increasing prosperity, meat consumption has risen rapidly. No country in the world eats more pork than China. In the past five years, dozens of huge industrialized pig farms have sprung up across China to meet demand. In 2019, Beijing’s government allowed multi-story pig farming and required all government departments to support the pig industry.
“A country must strengthen its agriculture before it can become a great power, and only robust agriculture can make the country strong,” leader Xi Jinping said at the time. He has warned in the past that if we don’t keep our rice bowl stable, China would fall under the control of others.
Since then, agriculture and animal husbandry have been viewed as a matter of national security. The goal is to become independent of imports. But so far China is the largest importer of agricultural products, including more than half of the world’s soybeans – used primarily as animal feed. The country has about ten percent of the world’s agricultural land for about 20 percent of the world’s population.
pork meat as an indicator of prosperity
The price of pork is a political issue. It is considered a measure of inflation and is closely monitored. The government can intervene in the market through a pork reserve. Last year, for example, when the wholesale price per kilo was over eight euros and fluctuated wildly, the government released 107,100 tons of pork from the state reserve over five months in order to bring down the price through more supply.
Pork is like an indicator of prosperity in China, says sociologist Mindi Schneider. And constantly growing prosperity is the most important criterion for legitimacy for the government. Schneider researched pigs in China for three years and now works in the USA at Brown University. “People in China used to eat pork once a year. Then the reforms came and there was more meat,” says the scientist. “The government’s success also depends on whether people can buy enough cheap pork. This way the government can show: Look, we’re doing better and better.”
Swine fever therefore also poses domestic political dangers: More than 100 million pigs had to be culled between 2018 and 2020. The price of meat has now tripled. “This crisis was a catalyst for industrial pig breeding, which was then presented as the modern answer to quasi-premodern problems,” says Mindi Schneider. “The market has been turned inside out, and instead of small pig farmers, the really big ones are now entering the market.”
Companies from completely different industries invest
20 companies now produce a third of all Chinese pigs. And more and more non-specialist corporations are investing in the lucrative business, especially several IT companies. The largest high-rise pig buildings – with 26 floors for 1.2 million pigs per year – are operated by the cement manufacturer Hubei Zhongxin Kaiwei. The heat from the cement factory is used for hot baths and warm drinking water for the pigs. According to the company, the animals can grow faster with less food.
The workers in the high-rise pig buildings in southern China live in a high-rise building next door. They are only allowed to leave the facility once a month for six days. In order for them to be able to work in direct contact with the pigs again, hygiene measures are mandatory that last a whole day: shower three times, even go to the sauna once, change into new clothes three times, everything has to be carefully disinfected.
The worker Lu Changtong presents the spouse’s apartment that the company provides her – because her husband also works here. Their child lives with their grandparents. She can only see it six days a month. “I don’t mind,” says Lu Changtong. “Recently we stayed here for a very long time. Once even for half a year. That happened once too. During the pandemic it was very strict. But we learned livestock breeding and we have to follow what the company asks of us.” Food, drink, a little exercise and a roof over your head. The company takes care of this – for the pigs and the people.