Chinese Traders Seek Donkeys: A Must-Have Asset Surpassing Cattle and Horses

Recently, the head of the Donkey Association, part of the China Animal Agriculture Association, made a statement that has captured widespread attention across the country, which once held the world’s largest population of domesticated donkeys.

“China has enough cattle and horses,” Wang Chunhong said in an interview. “But we are facing a shortage of donkeys,” he added, highlighting that the national donkey population falls significantly below market demand and that prices for donkey products continue to rise.

In the early 1990s, China held about a quarter of the world’s donkey population, peaking at around 11.2 million. However, as donkeys were phased out as transportation and draft animals, their slow reproduction rate coupled with the slaughter of millions for ejiao—a gelatin made from boiled donkey hides used mainly in cosmetics and traditional Chinese medicines—caused their numbers to dwindle to approximately 1.46 million by 2023.

It’s a cultural irony that while cattle and horses, known as niuma in Chinese, are commonly associated with hard labor, donkeys—once viewed as humble beasts of burden—are now some of the most highly valued livestock in the country.

To meet the growing demand for ejiao, Chinese traders are importing donkeys from Central Asia, Pakistan, and Africa.

In 2016, China imported 560 live donkeys from Kyrgyzstan for the first time, followed by 98 from Kazakhstan in 2019. As the donkey population in Central Asia remained limited, demand shifted toward Africa.

Pakistan, the world’s third-largest donkey producer with over 5 million donkeys, has started establishing specialized farms in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces to cater to exports to China.

Donkeys are predominantly found in developing nations, especially in Africa, where they are essential for work and transportation due to their durability and low maintenance costs, making them vital to local farmers’ livelihoods.

Donkeys serve as a crucial economic resource in rural regions, according to Zhu Ming, director of the regional cooperation office at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies.

Nevertheless, the price of donkeys in Africa has increased while their availability has decreased. For example, donkey prices in Burkina Faso rose over 60 percent from 2014 to 2016, and Kenya’s donkey population shrank by half between 2009 and 2019.

Last February, leaders from the 55 member states of the African Union approved a 15-year ban on the donkey hide trade. This decision was influenced by public opinion, media coverage, and Western animal welfare ideologies, Zhu noted.