China encourages poultry trade despite bird flu scare

Despite as many as 30 outbreaks of bird flu this year, China is urging local governments to ensure the survival of the poultry trade.

Chinese officials have culled more than 20 million birds after outbreaks in more than 10 provinces and have banned poultry exports from areas hit by the H5N1 strain deadly to humans until after quarantines are lifted.

But according to reports some local governments have restricted the movement of healthy poultry products.

A cabinet notice is quoted as saying that "relevant places should resolutely eliminate regional protection barriers that affect the normal circulation of qualified poultry and poultry products".

Regardless of the tightly centralised political system present in China , local governments have been gaining more economic autonomy since market-oriented reforms started in the 1980s.

However some elements of the state run media have recently accused regionalism of "hurting central authority" and preventing China from setting up a unified nationwide market.

It was just last week that China's top veterinarian, Jia Youling, warned of the possibility of fresh bird flu outbreaks with greater movement of poultry during the Lunar New Year holiday in January.

To date China has reported six human cases of bird flu this year and two deaths.