China's total meat output hit a new record of over 90 million tonnes in 2022, accounting for about one-fourth of the global total, data from China Meat Association showed.

China has maintained its leading role in global meat production for over 30 years, said Chen Wei, executive vice president and secretary-general of the meat association.

Speaking at a forum on meat quality and processing technology held in Zhengzhou, the capital of central China's Henan Province, Chen said over the past decades, the per capita meat consumption in China has registered rapid and steady growth.

In the first quarter of 2023, China produced 24.56 million tonnes of pork, beef, mutton and poultry meat, up 2.5 percent year on year.

"Since 2001, the proportion of pork in China's total meat production has decreased from 66 percent to about 60 percent while the ratio of beef, mutton and poultry meat logged an upward trend," Chen added.