Pakistan Exports First-Ever Donkey Cargo to China: 81 Tonnes Sail from Gwadar

One of the most unusual cargoes in Pakistan's trade history has left the country's shores. This week, the first-ever consignment of donkey meat, bones and hides — 81 tonnes in total — was shipped from the deep-sea port of Gwadar to China, opening an entirely new export channel between the two countries.

The shipment went out as three 27-tonne consignments, frozen and transported by sea after passing full standards checks and customs clearance. The exporter is Hangeng, a Chinese company operating out of the Gwadar North Free Zone, and the cargo was produced at Pakistan's first modern donkey processing facility — a $50 million plant built specifically to serve this trade.

To understand why China wants donkeys, you have to understand ejiao. Ejiao is a traditional Chinese medicine made by boiling donkey hides into a gelatin, used for centuries in China and believed to treat everything from fatigue to anaemia. Demand for ejiao has surged as China's middle class has grown, putting intense pressure on donkey populations across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Several African countries have already restricted or banned donkey exports in response. Pakistan, with one of the world's largest donkey populations, has now entered this market in an organised, industrialised way — rather than through the informal trade that has defined it elsewhere.

The significance goes well beyond the 81 tonnes. For Pakistan, this is a story about export diversification. The country's export basket has long been dominated by textiles, and successive governments have talked about finding new products and new markets. A purpose-built, standards-compliant processing facility exporting to China by sea — via Gwadar, the flagship port of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) — is a small but real step in that direction. It also shows Gwadar functioning as a working export hub, something that has taken years of investment to build.

There is an international dimension worth watching. The global donkey trade has drawn scrutiny from animal-welfare organisations, and several countries have imposed export bans precisely because demand from the ejiao industry was depleting herds. How Pakistan manages this industry — whether breeding, herd management and welfare standards develop alongside the processing plants — will determine whether this becomes a sustainable export success or a controversial one. For now, the facility's operators point to the formal standards checks and customs processes the first shipment passed through as a sign that the trade is being run properly.

For China, the shipment is a sign that supply chains for ejiao raw material are being formalised in new locations as traditional sources restrict exports. For Pakistan, it is the birth of an industry that barely existed a few years ago — and a test case for whether the country can turn an overlooked asset into structured, rules-based export revenue.

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Wondering why China wants donkeys? Read our explainer: What Is Ejiao? Why China Is Importing Donkeys from Pakistan