克隆牛肉即将端上中国人餐桌

中国正在兴建一家商业性的动物克隆中心，以满足国内日益增长的牛肉需求。

全球领先的科技公司博雅控股在新闻稿中表示，这家工厂位于天津经济技术开发区。

该项目总投资3100万美元，预计将在2016年上半年投入运营。工厂一期将实现年产10万头牛胚胎，未来将达到年产百万头的目标。这家工厂将成为世界最大的克隆工厂，并配有一座基因资源库和一间博物馆。

《财富》杂志曾于2015年11月报道，过去几十年，中国的牛肉需求一直在稳步增长。约30年前，猪肉占中国肉类消费的90%以上；现在，猪肉的比例下降到60%以下。牛肉填补了大部分空缺，自2000年以来，牛肉价格上涨了4倍。荷兰合作银行预测，2025年，中国的牛肉消耗量将比现在增加220万吨。

博雅控股在新闻稿中表示，中国的养殖户很难满足持续高涨的牛肉需求。如果取得成功，这家工厂或许将缓解养殖户的压力，但更有可能将许多人挤出这个市场。

2008年，预计到克隆技术的商业应用，美国食品及药品管理局(FDA)曾规定，来自克隆动物的食品产品足够安全，可以进入美国市场。但FDA并未强制要求食品生产商在其产品上标注食品的来源是否为克隆动物。克隆食品进入美国，可能会遭到消费者的抵制，特别是考虑到转基因食品一直都是颇具争议的热点问题。

此外，中国还依靠澳大利亚来满足与日俱增的牛肉消耗需求。据彭博社报道，2015年10月20日，澳大利亚首次从该国向中国中部空运活牛。澳大利亚此举赋予了“牛等舱”（cattle class）这个词语全新的含义。通常，飞机上的经济舱又被叫做“牛等舱”。

该航班的管理方是来自澳大利亚阿德莱德的农村服务公司Elders Ltd.，随着中国对新鲜牛肉的需求日益增长，该公司的利润也在不断增加。

海运只能将牲畜进口到沿海城市。因为根据某些规定，进口活畜的入境点不能超过检疫区域55英里。为了将新鲜牛肉销往中国中部的内陆城市，航空运输很有必要。

第一次空运只是尝试，但澳大利亚的牲畜供应商相信，空运的额外成本是值得的，因为在中国，牛肉的价值更高，牛身上的每一个部位都不会被浪费。进口活畜为中国中部地区的居民提供了购买新鲜内脏的机会。

然而，这些供应商遭到了某些动物权益保护组织的抗议。抗议者们认为活牛在飞行途中会承受压力。“澳大利亚政府应该关注冷冻和冷藏牛肉行业，而不是不顾及澳大利亚动物的福利，向中国运送活畜。”澳大利亚皇家防止虐待动物协会向彭博社表示。（财富中文网）

译者:刘进龙/汪皓

审校：任文科

A commercial animal cloning center is currently being built in China to help meet the country’s rapidly rising beef demands.

According to a press release by BoyaLife, a global leading technology company, the plant will be located in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin in a government sponsored business development park known as the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area.

The $31 million investment is expected to begin operations in the first half of 2016. The plant will start by producing 100,000 cattle embryos per year and eventually work its way up to one million. It will be the largest cloning facility in the world, complete with a gene storage area and a museum.

Last month Fortune reported that China’s beef demand has increased steadily over the past few decades. About 30 years ago, pork made up over 90% of the country’s meat consumption; now it’s less than 60%. Much of that void is being filled by beef, which has increased in price fourfold since 2000. Rabobank projects that by 2025 China will consume 2.2 million more tons of beef than it does now.

BoyaLife writes that Chinese farmers are having a difficult time meeting high beef demands. If this venture is successful, it could take that pressure off of them or, more likely, put many out of business.

In 2008, in anticipation of cloning technology being used for commercial purposes, the Food and Drug Administration ruled that food products derived from cloned animals are safe enough to enter the U.S. However, the agency did not mandate that food producers label their products as having derived from cloned animals. There could be backlash from consumers if these products reach the U.S., especially considering that genetically modified foods have been such a hot button issue.

In addition, Australia is giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “cattle class.” The nation sent its first flight filled with live cows to central China on Oct. 20, Bloomberg reports.

The flight was managed by Elders Ltd., a rural-services company based in Adelaide, Australia, which has seen its profit grow due to rising demand for fresh beef in China.

Boat travel is only sufficient when importing livestock to coastal cities. Because of certainregulations, imported live animals’ point of entry can’t be more than 55 miles away from their quarantine area. In order for fresh beef to be sold to inland cities in central China, air travel is necessary.

The first flight was just a test, but Australian livestock-suppliers believe that the extra cost will be worth it, partly because the value of beef is higher in China where every part of the animal gets used. Importing live animals provides locals in central China with the opportunity to purchase fresh internal organs.

However, these suppliers are receiving some backlash from animal rights groups that believe the cattle suffer from stress during travel. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Australia told Bloomberg that “the Australian government is best to instead focus on the chilled and frozen beef industry rather than putting the welfare of more Australian animals at risk by sending live cattle to China.”