As a major player in the animal husbandry industry in China, Shandong is the first province in the country to cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to set a model of modern animal husbandry. Recently, the General Office of the People's Government of Shandong Province issued Opinions on Accelerating the Transformation and Upgrading of Animal Husbandry to Promote High-quality Development.

The document encompasses a total of 16 items that explicitly required more efforts to fulfill responsibilities, ensure policy support, and build a talent pool. Notably, four directions for transformation and upgrading were innovatively put forward, i.e. promoting the large-scale and characteristic development of livestock and poultry farming, advancing the intensive, digital, and intelligent development of facility animal husbandry, driving the integrated and full-chain development of processing and operation, and pursuing an eco-friendly, green, and low-carbon development mode.

Animal husbandry has a long industrial chain and a high degree of organization. As a linkage between industry and agriculture, it is characterized by the integration of the three industries and industrial chains. Therefore, it is crucial to build industrial and supply chains with higher added value around full-chain integration. Meanwhile, in terms of policy support, relevant departments should coordinate factor guarantees, provide full support for improving the quality and efficiency of animal husbandry throughout its industrial chain, promote the construction of a number of modern industrial clusters, parks, counties, towns, and enterprises, and create new growth poles for the regional economy.