'Torture' bear firm seeks IPO
By Wang Qingchu |
February 17, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A PHARMACEUTICAL company accused of torturing bears to extract their bile is pressing ahead with a flotation, despite opposition from animal welfare activists.
Fujian Province based Guizhentang Pharmaceutical Development Co Ltd claims its bile farm is like "a kindergarten for bears" and that anyone opposing its initial public offering is "acting against the country."
But in a letter to the Fujian Branch of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Hong Kong-based Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) accuses Guizhentang of treating bears cruelly.
AAF says bile extraction, which involves inserting a catheter into a live bear's abdomen, causes great suffering. It also claims bear bile products threaten users' health as most bears suffer from infected wounds.
"A pharmaceutical company that tortures animals and puts people's health at risk shouldn't be a publicly listed company," Zhang Xiaohai, AAF director of external affairs, told Shanghai Daily yesterday. "We are determined to see legislation introduced that will end this brutal practice."
AAF is aiming to raise public awareness and see bear bile replaced with substitutes.
Zhang is seeking support from deputies to the National People's Congress and advisors of China's Political People's Consultative Conference in an attempt to present proposals banning the practice at forthcoming annual meetings of the top legislature and political adversary body.
Guizhentang's listing plan was exposed by a microblogger, who called for a boycott of the company's listing.
"Fujian's Guizhentang is raising capital, which is to be used in two projects to produce 4,000 kg of bear bile powder a year and to breed 1,200 caged black bears a year," wrote Yu Jichun, producer of environment conservation documentaries at Yunnan Satellite TV.
Guizhentang, which owns a large bear farm in south China with some 400 animals and produces bear bile products, is seeking listing on China's Nasdaq-style ChiNext.
"Anyone who is against our listing plan is against the country," Qiu Shuhua, founder of Guizhentang, told China Business News.
He said Guizhentang's business and products had been approved by the authorities.
An assessment of Guizhentang in las June by the Fujian environmental protection department said the firm met environmental rules.
Qiu said Guizhentang's bear farm is a model operation. "Our bears are very healthy. Our farm is like a kindergarten for bears. They don't suffer any pain when we collect their bile," Qiu claimed.
The State Forestry Administration will handle the dispute, said Qiu.
Zhang said AAF could provide financial support for Guizhentang to change its business model.
Officials of Fujian Branch of the CSRC declined to comment, saying they had yet to receive the AAF letter.
China has 68 registered bear farms where more than 10,000 black bears are kept for bile extraction. The farms produce about 30 tons of bear bile powder each year.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, bear bile helps cure ailments such as eye and liver problems. Bear bile powder can sell for as much as 4,000 yuan (US$597) a kilogram.
For more than 3,000 years, bears have been hunted in Asia for their gallbladders and the valuable bile within. Animal welfare groups claim bile extraction is a cruel process and often causes fatal liver cancer or organ failure.
"Bear farming is a cruel and unnecessary industry that causes both physical and psychological suffering to thousands of bears caged in farms across the country," AAF said.
"To extract bile, bears are subjected to crude surgery. Both the wounds and the repeated act of bile extraction result in significant illness and suffering for the bears and resultant contaminants in the bile produced."
Fujian Province based Guizhentang Pharmaceutical Development Co Ltd claims its bile farm is like "a kindergarten for bears" and that anyone opposing its initial public offering is "acting against the country."
But in a letter to the Fujian Branch of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Hong Kong-based Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) accuses Guizhentang of treating bears cruelly.
AAF says bile extraction, which involves inserting a catheter into a live bear's abdomen, causes great suffering. It also claims bear bile products threaten users' health as most bears suffer from infected wounds.
"A pharmaceutical company that tortures animals and puts people's health at risk shouldn't be a publicly listed company," Zhang Xiaohai, AAF director of external affairs, told Shanghai Daily yesterday. "We are determined to see legislation introduced that will end this brutal practice."
AAF is aiming to raise public awareness and see bear bile replaced with substitutes.
Zhang is seeking support from deputies to the National People's Congress and advisors of China's Political People's Consultative Conference in an attempt to present proposals banning the practice at forthcoming annual meetings of the top legislature and political adversary body.
Guizhentang's listing plan was exposed by a microblogger, who called for a boycott of the company's listing.
"Fujian's Guizhentang is raising capital, which is to be used in two projects to produce 4,000 kg of bear bile powder a year and to breed 1,200 caged black bears a year," wrote Yu Jichun, producer of environment conservation documentaries at Yunnan Satellite TV.
Guizhentang, which owns a large bear farm in south China with some 400 animals and produces bear bile products, is seeking listing on China's Nasdaq-style ChiNext.
"Anyone who is against our listing plan is against the country," Qiu Shuhua, founder of Guizhentang, told China Business News.
He said Guizhentang's business and products had been approved by the authorities.
An assessment of Guizhentang in las June by the Fujian environmental protection department said the firm met environmental rules.
Qiu said Guizhentang's bear farm is a model operation. "Our bears are very healthy. Our farm is like a kindergarten for bears. They don't suffer any pain when we collect their bile," Qiu claimed.
The State Forestry Administration will handle the dispute, said Qiu.
Zhang said AAF could provide financial support for Guizhentang to change its business model.
Officials of Fujian Branch of the CSRC declined to comment, saying they had yet to receive the AAF letter.
China has 68 registered bear farms where more than 10,000 black bears are kept for bile extraction. The farms produce about 30 tons of bear bile powder each year.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, bear bile helps cure ailments such as eye and liver problems. Bear bile powder can sell for as much as 4,000 yuan (US$597) a kilogram.
For more than 3,000 years, bears have been hunted in Asia for their gallbladders and the valuable bile within. Animal welfare groups claim bile extraction is a cruel process and often causes fatal liver cancer or organ failure.
"Bear farming is a cruel and unnecessary industry that causes both physical and psychological suffering to thousands of bears caged in farms across the country," AAF said.
"To extract bile, bears are subjected to crude surgery. Both the wounds and the repeated act of bile extraction result in significant illness and suffering for the bears and resultant contaminants in the bile produced."
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