I. Why It Deserves Study

In the map of China's agricultural and food processing industry, Sichuan holds a position that is difficult to overlook — primarily because of its commanding position in raw material supply. In 2023, Sichuan slaughtered 66.627 million hogs, maintaining its top ranking nationally for multiple consecutive years and accounting for approximately 8.45% of national pork output. This figure is not merely an agricultural statistic; it directly determines the dominant center of gravity within the province's food processing sector: hog slaughter and meat product processing.

At the same time, Sichuan's varied topography and distinct climate zones mean that the basin and hilly areas produce pigs and oilseeds, while mountain valleys yield tea and bamboo shoots. Konjac and bamboo shoot resources in Leshan and Yibin have developed into independent processing tracks. The Fifth National Economic Census showed that agricultural and food processing enterprises accounted for 7.9% of all manufacturing legal entities in Sichuan — ranking in the top three among all industrial categories.

II. Hog Slaughter: Scale Coexisting with Concentration

Hog slaughter represents the single largest source of output value in Sichuan's agricultural food processing sector. According to the Sichuan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' Hog Slaughter Industry Development Plan, as of end-2022, the province had 855 designated slaughter enterprises with a stable annual slaughter capacity exceeding 80 million head. Of these, 247 enterprises — those slaughtering more than 20,000 hogs annually — handled 82% of total provincial slaughter volume, reflecting steadily rising industry concentration.

Two locally headquartered listed companies anchor the competitive landscape.

Gaojin Food, founded in 1996 and based in Chengdu, has integrated 11 processing and production bases nationwide with an annual slaughter capacity of over 9 million head and meat product processing capacity of 250,000 tonnes per year. Its products are exported to more than 20 countries and regions, with annual output value exceeding 10 billion yuan. Gaojin holds national key agro-industrial enterprise designation and has been expanding into Sichuan-flavored pre-made dishes since 2023.

New Hope Liuhe's slaughter operations are part of a national layout. According to its 2023 annual report, the company slaughtered 3.96 million hogs during the year, up 36% year-on-year, with slaughter revenue of 7.058 billion yuan. Its planned hog farming capacity stands at approximately 42 million head per year, ranking third nationally. New Hope's feed and farming roots trace back to Sichuan, with its slaughter business expanding in tandem with nationwide growth.

Tianjis Group started as a feed producer and operates extensive hog farming bases across multiple Sichuan cities, providing stable raw material supply to downstream slaughter and processing enterprises.

III. Cured Meats: Traditional Craft Alongside Modern Distribution

Sichuan's cured meats — particularly sausages and bacon — carry deep historical roots. Santai County in Mianyang is a significant production cluster, where local brands have scaled through e-commerce channels, with at least one enterprise crossing the 100-million-yuan annual revenue threshold. In Chengdu, concentrated cured meat retail and processing strips attract a high proportion of out-of-city buyers. Cities including Yibin, Dazhou, and Luzhou have long-standing consumption traditions that sustain steady demand for local processors.

Industry data indicates that the Sichuan cured sausage category generated over 300 million yuan in pre-made dish platform sales in 2021, making it one of the larger sub-categories by value at that time. Industrialized production and standardized packaging have since accelerated, though small-scale artisan workshops remain widespread, and the gap in regulatory compliance between operators of different scales remains considerable.

IV. Edible Oils and Specialty Primary Processing

Sichuan is one of China's most important rapeseed-producing provinces. In 2024, provincial rapeseed planting area exceeded 21.6 million mu with output surpassing 3.7 million tonnes; the edible vegetable oil processing industry generated close to 30 billion yuan in output value — approximately 65% more than at the start of the "Tianfu Caiyou" rapeseed oil promotion program. The Chengdu Plain and central Sichuan hilly zone are the primary processing clusters.

Tea primary processing is concentrated around Ya'an and Mount Emei, principally Tibetan tea (Ya'an border tea) and green tea, with processing capacity broadly aligned with planted area. Konjac processing centers on Leshan, where Muchuan County has established a "grain and oil plus konjac" modern agricultural industrial park; dedicated local government bond proceeds for supporting infrastructure reached 323 million yuan in 2023. Yibin is rich in bamboo shoot resources; processors there focus mainly on canned and dried products, with a comparatively high export share among Sichuan bamboo shoot processors.

V. Supply Chain Structure

Looking upstream, Sichuan's hog farming ecosystem is tightly integrated — feed manufacturers, veterinary inputs, and breeding systems are highly concentrated within the province, making the geographic match between raw material and processing better than in most other provinces. Oilseeds, tea, and bamboo are similarly supplied from within the province, giving the supply chain notable stability.

Downstream, meat products reach national retail, foodservice, and export markets; cured meats have found their primary growth channel in e-commerce, with short-video commerce driving significant recent volume gains; edible oils flow through distributor networks across southwest China and into parts of the national market.

Cold-chain logistics remains a key constraint on the further expansion of Sichuan's processed pork products into national markets. Chengdu's position as a western aviation and rail hub gives it a meaningful cold-chain infrastructure advantage over the rest of the province, but cold-chain connectivity for county-level slaughter enterprises still has substantial gaps.

VI. Challenges and Structural Transition

The cyclical volatility of hog prices remains the largest systemic risk across the sector. The 2023 low-price environment put significant pressure on profits at multiple farming and slaughter enterprises; New Hope Group has reported material non-recurring losses over recent years, with its vertically integrated heavy-asset model bearing the full weight of downswings in the hog cycle.

Rising labor costs and the pressure of automation represent a second structural thread. Automated slaughter lines are expanding among large operators, but equipment renewal at smaller slaughter enterprises is constrained by capital limitations and moves slowly. Regulatory tightening on food safety compliance is pushing the cured meat processing segment toward licensed, standardized operation, compressing the space for small informal processors.

Edible oils and specialty products remain predominantly in primary processing. Tea, bamboo shoots, and konjac continue to leave the province mostly as raw or minimally processed materials, with limited value retention. Regional brand-building programs like "Tianfu Caiyou" are underway, but premium pricing power compared to established eastern edible oil brands remains a work in progress.

VII. A Diversified Industrial Profile

Sichuan's agricultural and food processing industry is not a single-track story. Hog slaughter is the largest anchor by output value, with Gaojin Food and New Hope holding competitive scale at the national level. Cured meats draw on deep culinary culture to carve out differentiated markets. Edible oil processing has strong resource endowment support. Tea, konjac, and bamboo shoots fill out the processing map for mountain-zone economies. This multi-track structure gives the sector greater resilience against any single commodity price shock than provinces with more concentrated industrial profiles.

Sales teams supplying upstream inputs to these processors can use Tianxia Gongchang to screen Sichuan agricultural and food processing factory directories and key decision-maker contacts by province and industry, identifying procurement needs and factory distribution efficiently.

Over the longer term, Sichuan's competitive position in agricultural food processing will depend on raw material supply remaining stable and on whether value-added depth and brand equity can steadily narrow the gap with comparable industries in eastern China. Both remain open questions with distance still to travel.

Data Sources

  • Tianxia Gongchang (Sichuan agricultural and food processing factory directory and industrial data)
  • Sichuan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Hog Slaughter Industry Development Plan (January 2024)
  • Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Statistics, 2023 Statistical Bulletin on National Economic and Social Development
  • Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Statistics, Fifth National Economic Census Bulletin No. 3 — Secondary Industry (March 2025)
  • New Hope Liuhe Co., Ltd., 2023 Annual Report Summary
  • Sichuan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianfu Caiyou Industry Chain Reports (2025)
  • The Paper, Sichuan Hog Industry Development Analysis
  • China News Service Sichuan, Sichuan Pre-made Dish Industry Development Coverage (2023)