There is a wholesale shift toward cage-free production underway worldwide, said IQC China in a recent report. A major driver of the transition is global food brands' “2025 cage free” commitments. Successful transition requires collaboration and thoughtful support. China is the world’s largest egg producer with little large scale cage free production.

To help facilitate the successful transition in the Chinese market, Cage Free Egg China Summit organized by FAI Farms, IQC and Lever Foods was held in Shanghai in June 18^th, 2019, CAFA gave big supports to this summit. There’re more than 100 participants from Government, universities and industry joined this summit the enterprise representatives are come from Carrefour, IKEA, Starbucks, Marriott, Hyatt, Sodexo, Auchan, Mondelez, Aldi, TingShin, Yigoo, CP Food, Unilever, Ferrero, Big Dutchman, City super, Hongxuan, Fengji, Sundairy, etc.

Dr Xiong Chuanwu of IQC hosted the summit with co-host Øistein Thorsen of FAI Farms who introduced FAI's animal welfare, cage-free egg projects and international partners.

Mr Thorsen expressed that FAI wants to understand Chinese egg market conditions and will provide practical and technical support to bring Chinese industry shakeholders together to create consumer trust.

Sam Gao, founder of Top Guide Advisory Shanghai, introduced the conventional egg industry in China and described the current circumstances, problems and future of the Chinese chicken industry with many case studies.

Dr Sun Zhongchao, deputy secretary-general of the China Animal Health and Food Safety Innovation Alliance (CAFA), discussed the situation and opportunities related to laying hens in traditional and high welfare systems in China.

Annie Rayner who is programme manager of FAI Farms shared what a laying hen wants, the good life framework and discussed that good animal welfare requires positive experiences.

Paul Littlefair, head of international, RSPCA introduced the RSPCA assured project, farm animal welfare standards, the EU regulations and market climate. Paul also shared the shift in awareness of animal welfare among Chinese consumers.

Hervé Martin, national food safety and quality director, Carrefour China, spoke as retailer representative. Mr Martin introduced the Carrefour Global programme on animal welfare and implementation.

Dr Xu Hongfei of Jiangsu Hongxuan introduced their UFO plant and breeding model, shared their experience in animal welfare and feedback from consumers.

Henry Wang, project director of IQC, introduced the standards of cage free, common problems in Chinese cage-free systems and how to meet cage-free requirements.

Katherine Ma, project manager of Lever Foods, hosted the panel discussion. The theme was Trust & Collaboration. They discussed animal welfare and cage-free eggs from different angles throughout the whole supply chain, and also shared government activities, and expectation of consumers and how to build trust with them.