Xinhua, the official Chinese news service, has reported that China’s Ministry of Science and Technology launched a halal food program in partnership with Malaysia.
Leading its implementation, Gansu province stands to benefit from a growing reputation for Islamic-compliant manufacturing, science, technology and trade. Currently, China's share of total global halal food exports averages around US$100m per year—a meager figure that has the potential to grow significantly.
Gansu will work closely with the Malaysian side in halal food processing, biological material research and certification to build an scalable halal food testing laboratory.
Compared to Malaysia, which is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and certifiers of halal food, China’s Islamic food export figures are small beans, making up just 0.1% of the world’s halal market, according to the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
Although Islam has existed in Chinese society for over 1,000 years, only 1% of China’s population is Muslim, with the northwest being the religion’s stronghold.
As a result, regional authorities have acknowledged the need to develop Gansu province’s export potential—though the 20m-strong domestic Muslim market would be relatively sizeable in most other countries..