Nearly half of citizens in China’s tier 1 cities would choose cultivated meat and seafood over conventional options – but health and safety remain the main concern.
As China’s government ramps up support for cultivated meat, people in its major metropolises are all for it too.
The country is the world’s largest producer, consumer, and importer of meat, and the appetite for these proteins will continue to rise as urbanisation and affluence make them more accessible. However, where that meat comes from may change, since 60% of China’s protein supply needs to come from alternative sources by 2060 for a realistic chance of decarbonisation.
Cultivated meat, grown by culturing real animal cells in bioreactors, can drastically lower the greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and land use associated with meat production. China is already at the forefront of this shift, home to eight of the top 20 patent applicants for these novel proteins.
Its protein diversification drive is bolstered by public support. According to a 1,000-person survey by the APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture (APAC-SCA), 77% of people in four tier 1 cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen – are willing to try cultivated meat and seafood.
Health and food safety top of mind for China’s consumers
The poll reveals that the interest in cultivated meat stems from the appeal of trying new and innovative foods, and comes despite relatively little understanding about these proteins.
A third (34%) of Chinese consumers aren’t familiar with the term at all. And while 63% have heard of cultivated meat, just one in 10 knows what the concept means. But even among the latter group of respondents, only about half can provide an accurate technical definition.
Still, the positive outlook towards these proteins persists, with 45% of consumers saying they’re likely to replace conventional meat and seafood with cell-cultured versions.
This is primarily due to “the new and innovative aspects of cultivated meat and seafood, and the health benefits these products may bring when compared to their conventional counterparts”, APAC-SCA project manager Calisa Lim told Green Queen.
That said, health is a recurring concern too. A perceived unnaturalness, food safety worries, and doubts over health are the top three hurdles for cultivated meat. “When it comes to a new food product, especially novel foods, safety aspects will always be at the top of consumers’ minds, due to their unfamiliarity,” said Lim.
“For China, in particular, healthy living has been consistently promoted by the Chinese government and adopted by its citizens, with healthy eating playing a huge role. What we see in terms of the presence of health and food safety aligns with what Chinese consumers already tend to prioritise when purchasing ordinary foods.”
The respondents also place a lot of emphasis on local government laws, regulations, and safety standards, and indicate that these would also shape their perceptions of cultivated proteins. Streamlined messaging about the safety and health benefits of these foods, both from regulators and the industry, are thus critical to building consumer trust.
“Assurance on health and safety cannot come solely from the alternative protein industry,” explained Lim. “As consumers place a strong belief and trust in food safety regulators, unified messages from government stakeholders and industry players would be most effective to provide assurance on health and safety.”
APAC-SCA lauds Chinese government support for cultivated meat
Speaking of which, the government is already betting big on future foods. The current five-year agriculture plan encourages research in cultivated meat, while the bioeconomy development strategy aims to advance novel foods.
This year, the country saw its first alternative protein innovation centre open in Beijing, fuelled by an $11M investment from public and private investors to develop novel foods like cultivated meat. And in the Guangdong province, China’s most populous region, local officials are planning to build a biomanufacturing hub to pioneer tech breakthroughs in plant-based, microbial and cultivated proteins.
At the annual Two Sessions summit, top government officials called for a deeper integration of strategic emerging industries (which included biomanufacturing), shortly after the agriculture ministry highlighted the safety and nutritional efficacy of alternative proteins as a key priority. Meanwhile, No. 1 Central Document (which signals China’s top goals for the year), underscored the importance of protein diversification, including efforts “to explore novel food resources”.
“We are excited by the decision of the Chinese government to ramp up support for the cultivated meat and seafood sector, especially with China’s declaration that food security is a top national priority,” said Lim.
“China’s lead in cultivated meat patent filings globally illustrates the deep interest from the scientific community and the rich scientific knowledge of the local industry and research centres that have accumulated thus far. Once the pathways for commercialisation are set in place, China would be a formidable marketplace for such products,” she added.
APAC-SCA is calling for the creation of coherent, consistent regulatory guidelines and international alignment on the risk assessment frameworks of cultivated meat. Lim noted that the country introduced a novel food framework back in 2013. “However, a clear guideline for the preparation of cultivated meat and seafood dossiers remains in the works,” she said.
The organisation further noted that engagement with regulators through tools like virtual clinics and sandboxes can provide clarity to companies looking to commercialise their products. Tasting sessions on pre-approved products are also crucial to get public feedback and fine-tune taste and texture ahead of market launch, it said.
“As one of the world’s largest meat consumers, China is very susceptible to livestock diseases such as the African swine fever,” outlined Lim. “The production process of cultivated meat and seafood thus provides a stable alternative for the growing affluent Chinese population (which is eating more meat), from the point of shifting trade relations and climate change.”
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