Foreign Trade in the Modern Egg Industry and the Rural Economy: A Discussion Centered on Poultry Farming (1912–1937)

Abstract In the first half of the 20th century, the global egg market expanded continuously, gradually making eggs an important commodity in China’s modern foreign trade. Between 1912 and 1937, egg production in China’s major egg trade regions increased moderately in line with the growth of the number of chickens, but there was no significant improvement in the egg output per chicken. The expansion of the egg market did not lead to the emergence of specialized poultry farmers, and chicken farming remained a common secondary activity within the rural household economy. Chinese peasants typically supplied eggs through the practice of free-range poultry farming. In the 1920s, both the government and society recognized the importance of developing the poultry industry and attempted to promote specialized poultry farms. However, these efforts yielded limited results, and this top-down approach did not lead to a breakthrough in the development of the poultry industry. The further development of poultry farming was constrained by a variety of factors, including traditional societal practices, lack of knowledge and technology, insufficient funding, and poor organizational structures. In brief, the development of the egg trade advanced the commercialization of eggs, yet smallholder peasants, relying on traditional methods of poultry farming, provided the initial supply of egg products. As a result, the poultry industry in modern China, in conjunction with the rural economy, failed to achieve further development.