Activists call for boycott of country’s largest foie gras farm (2)

However, for France this is a difficult task, as the foie gras industry annually brings in 1.7 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in revenue, according to Greenbeagle.

If foie gras production in Europe comes to an end, it would leave a gaping hole that the Chinese industry could then fill, as there are currently no laws prohibiting its production, and farms dot many Chinese provinces.

According to its website, Sanrougey Fowls Company in Shandong Province, the self-proclaimed largest foie gras manufacturer in Asia, produces 100 tons of it every month, with an average annual turnover of 10 to 20 million yuan.

However, a Sanrougey spokesperson told the Global Times yesterday that their foie gras has never been exported to Europe as "the related policies of both Europe and China do not allow us to import it there yet."

Controversy in China

The consumption of foie gras is seen to be linked with those who live an elegant lifestyle in China, and many are willing to try it, regardless of its large price tag.

Du Min, a 30-year-old Jiangxi resident, told the Global Times that although he opposes cruelty to animals, he is not opposed to eating foie gras, as he had enjoyed it when he was traveling in Paris.

"I do think the force-feeding is cruel, but if I find foie gras in a market I would try it again," Du said, "I think it is a little hypocritical that some animal conservationists call for the protection of some animals, but think it is fine to slaughter others."

Following a recent public outcry over the production of bear bile, an active ingredient in many traditional Chinese medicines, two members of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference proposed the drafting of a law to ban the extraction of the substance from living bears in China, Beijing News reported on Saturday.

In their proposal, Feng Jicai and Han Meilin called the extraction of bile from living bears inhumane, and said it was contradictory to the morality of the modern world. They also said that it could be detrimental to China's image, and that the pursuit of profit at the expense of morality is harmful to the county's social ethos.

Despite occasional blog articles exposing the cruelty of force-feeding to get fattened livers, the Chinese public has not paid much attention to this issue.

Greenbeagle told the Global Times that it hopes a law banning bear bile extraction is established, as "it would give animal rights activists a chance to legally fight the cruelty and inhumanity derived from the selfishness and avarice of human beings."