From Agricultural College Student to Breeding Pioneer: Xue Yongzhu's Entrepreneurial Journey

In 1989, Xue Yongzhu graduated from Fuqing Agricultural School with a degree in animal husbandry and veterinary medicine. Driven by a simple desire to apply his knowledge, he established a pig farm in 1992, starting with just 150 sows. At a time when pig farming was predominantly small-scale, large-scale operations were rare, and feeding pigs cooked food remained the norm, “villagers were quite surprised: ‘How will you solve the feed problem?’” Xue recalled. “This choice truly required courage.”

In the early days of his venture, facing a lack of experience, Xue worked at the farm by day and studied professional literature by night, building the operation step by step. He benefited greatly from the assistance of his uncle in Taiwan, who provided him with a wealth of specialized materials scarce in mainland China. Among these, the magazine Modern Pig Farming introduced him to advanced concepts like fully slatted farrowing crates and gestation stalls for the first time. At the time, foreign three-way crossbred pigs were scarce, professional breeding stock was even rarer, and technical support was severely lacking. Facing these challenges head-on, he took bold steps: lacking breeding stock, he pioneered self-breeding and self-rearing; without production management software, he manually recorded data for every breeding pig; devoid of established experience, he accumulated knowledge through trial and error. It was this very persistence that laid the foundation for Yongcheng's over thirty-year breeding journey, ultimately achieving a magnificent transformation from a family workshop to a national-level core breeding farm.

2006 marked a pivotal turning point for Yongcheng. When breeding efforts hit a bottleneck, Xue Yongzhu made a pivotal decision: he traveled to the United States to invite Max, the third-generation heir of the century-old breeding enterprise Huddle Farms, to collaborate in China. After visiting China, Max highly recognized Yongcheng's breeding work, and the two parties quickly established a joint venture. This collaboration not only brought top-tier genetics of the three major breeds—Landrace, Large White, and Duroc—to Yongcheng but also secured long-term technical guidance from a team of experts. “Max taught us that the value of breeding pigs lies in performance, not appearance,” Xue Yongzhu reflected. This 12-year deep collaboration enabled Yongcheng to completely abandon the traditional notion of “judging pigs by their looks.” The company established standardized breeding processes, cultivated a local technical team, mastered internationally leading breeding technologies, and ultimately joined the ranks of the world's foremost swine breeding enterprises.

Core Password: “Balanced Breeding” and “Performance Testing”

After over three decades of dedicated cultivation, Yongcheng's success hinges on two core principles:

First is the balanced performance philosophy. Yongcheng steadfastly adheres to the concept of “balanced breeding.” Xue Yongzhu explains: "Improving production efficiency in pig farming cannot rely solely on a single metric. We've discovered that production efficiency is maximized only when reproductive performance, growth performance, and disease resistance achieve a dynamic equilibrium." This philosophy is implemented through two major initiatives: scientifically setting breeding indices to assign reasonable weights to different traits, ensuring balanced genetic selection; and strengthening data collection through large-scale growth and reproductive performance testing to provide data support for balanced breeding.

Second is the performance testing methodology. In breeding practice, Yongcheng consistently adheres to the core principle of “data-driven decision-making,” dedicated to cultivating superior breeding stock. Every Friday, the genetic core farm hosts an efficient “data relay race”: a six-person testing team operates like an assembly line, completing growth performance measurements on 80 breeding pigs per hour.

Data collection and entry commence immediately in the afternoon, followed by genetic evaluation in the evening. Genetic evaluation reports are generated by Saturday. In practice, Yongcheng employs a differentiated strategy: sires are selected primarily for growth performance, while gilts are evaluated for both reproductive performance and growth rate.

Adhering to the principle of dynamic selection among the best, 2024 measurement data validated this system's effectiveness. Throughout the year, 25,486 breeding pigs were measured, including 12,582 Durocs. The new champion Duroc, Huoshi DD32-2, measured in June 2024, achieved a correction weight of 120kg at just 126 days of age, demonstrating growth rates at internationally leading levels.

This breeding model, guided by balanced principles and driven by performance testing, is precisely the core secret behind Yongcheng's sustained industry leadership.

Breaking Through with Innovation: Driving Industry Transformation with “New Quality Productivity”

In 2025, with the central government's strategy to “develop new-quality productive forces in agriculture,” the swine breeding industry has ushered in new opportunities for transformation and upgrading. In response, Xue Yongzhu, Chairman of Yongcheng Breeding Group, profoundly noted: “The core of new-quality productive forces lies in technological innovation, which is precisely the development path Yongcheng has adhered to for years.” Guided by this philosophy, the Group is continuously advancing swine breeding upgrades through three systematic initiatives.

First, in technological breakthroughs, the Group achieves advancements by introducing and integrating cutting-edge breeding technologies from both domestic and international sources. Focusing on “genetic breeding technology” as the breakthrough point, it leverages whole-genome sequencing technology to conduct precision selection and breeding. In 2014, the establishment of academician workstations and expert workstations enabled the integration of traditional genetic breeding, modern molecular breeding, and cutting-edge gene breeding technologies. This successfully broke the long-standing vicious cycle in China's breeding pig industry: “importing breeds → breeding → degeneration → re-importing breeds.” After a decade of technological refinement, Yongcheng creatively combined the superior body conformation of American breeding pigs with the high reproductive traits of its own breeding stock. This culminated in the development of the “Yongcheng Line” breeding pigs, specifically adapted to China's conditions, achieving complete autonomy and control over breeding technology.

Second, in breeding system innovation, the Group developed a distinctive “Feed Efficiency Breeding Technology” system, focusing on cultivating highly feed-efficient breeding lines. Data shows that Yongcheng breeding pigs, leveraging their outstanding growth rate advantages, save at least 843,000 tons of grain annually. This not only achieves grain conservation goals but also significantly enhances industry economic benefits.

Finally, in industry-academia-research collaboration, the Group actively established joint consortia. Internally, it forged deep partnerships with universities like China Agricultural University and South China Agricultural University to continuously advance new breeding technologies. Externally, it engaged in synchronized joint breeding programs with the United States and received high-level training to elevate China's overall swine breeding standards.

Through continuous innovation, Yongcheng Breeding Pigs has achieved dual breakthroughs in physique and performance: not only developing more robust and aesthetically pleasing breeding pig physiques, but also achieving remarkable results in various performance evaluations, providing a model case for the transformation and upgrading of China's breeding pig industry.

Future Blueprint: Five-Year Plan Transitions from “China's Leading” to “World-Class Excellence”

From a small farm in Eastern Fujian to a national-level core breeding base, Yongcheng Breeding Group has steadfastly pursued its mission of “leading pig breeding to improve human nutrition” with unwavering dedication over the past 33 years. At this new stage of development, Chairman Xue Yongzhu has outlined a clear five-year blueprint for Yongcheng:

In terms of scale expansion, the plan is to upgrade and expand the existing three genetic core herds. The goal is to establish five genetic core farms by 2030, increasing the core sow herd size to over 12,700 sows, aiming to rank among the top three globally in both the number and scale of core farms. In technological R&D, the company will vigorously advance whole-genome breeding technology to enhance breeding accuracy and accelerate genetic progress. Simultaneously, it will deepen collaborations with domestic and international universities and research institutions to focus on screening and developing breakthrough new traits. These traits may chart entirely new directions for the industry, driving iterative upgrades in breeding practices.

Under the leadership of Chairman Xue Yongzhu, Yongcheng Breeding Group is poised to cultivate world-class breeding pigs and achieve its grand vision of becoming the “global leader in pig breeding.” Looking ahead, the Group will reshape traditional industries through technological innovation, safeguard China's food security with a craftsman's spirit, and continue contributing Yongcheng's strength to global food security.