Following a recent shipment of 12,000 white feather broiler breeder chickens from France, Shandong Yisheng Livestock & Poultry Breeding Co Ltd in Yantai, Shandong province, has boosted its year-to-date imports to 174,000 sets, commanding a major share of China's total.

This volume solidifies the company's leading role in supplying the nation's white feather broiler breeding stock, said Lin Jie, president of the company.

It has maintained the leading position in China in terms of grandparent stock inventory.

The 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) marked a half-decade of transformative growth for the company's breeding stock operations.

In addition to maintaining an annual supply capacity of over 20 million sets of parent stock chicks, the company has expanded its parent stock inventory, leading to a 40 percent increase in the annual output of commercial day-old chicks, from 470 million to 660 million.

This growth has supported the stable supply of white feather broiler breeding stock in China, Lin said.

Aligning with the national strategy of vitalizing the seed industry, Yisheng has achieved breakthroughs in the breeding of small-type white feather broilers.

The company's self-developed Yisheng 909 and Yisheng 817 hybrid strains have received official recognition as new national livestock and poultry breeds.

Lin said the latter is suitable for producing small-to-medium-sized products, while the former is geared toward medium-to-large-sized products. This differentiated portfolio allows the company the flexibility to meet market demand.

The market for small white feather broilers has emerged as the third-largest broiler segment in China, with annual live bird shipments reaching approximately 2.5 billion, Lin added.

"Given their cost advantages and meat quality, small white feather broilers hold vast market potential and promising prospects for future development," he said.