Antimicrobial use and farm size in China’s Shandong province

Abstract

In this paper, we examine antibiotic use in the Chinese hog farming sector. China warrants special atten-tion for several reasons. First, China is both the largest producer and the largest consumer of antibiotics in the world (Zhu et al. 2013). Second, it leads the world in use of antimicrobial drugs in livestock (Van Boeckel et al. 2015). Third, several studies have shown higher levels of antibiotic resistance in China than in other countries (Zhang et al. 2006; Hu et al. 2014; Hvistendahl 2012). Finally, the combination of high rates of antibiotic use and weak regulatory enforcement make China an ideal setting in which to examine the drivers of antimicrobial use in livestock production.