30-Second Overview: Over 95% of Taiwan's beef market relies on imports. The island is small and densely populated, has no vast grasslands, and the government has never had a clear beef cattle policy. Yet in 2024, Taiwan produced its first privately bred, officially certified native cattle breed—Yuan Xing cattle. Its origin traces back to a shipment of Tajima cattle that sailed from Japan in 1933, and its endpoint is a bowl of Tainan beef soup that must be served within 6 to 8 hours of slaughter. This is not a story of industrial expansion, but of finding a crack in a structural disadvantage.
1933: Black Cattle Dock at Keelung Harbor
In 1933, the Government-General of Taiwan arranged for a shipment of Tajima cattle from Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, arriving by sea at Keelung Harbor before being transferred to the Third Pasture in what is today Wanli District, New Taipei City. Their purpose was clear: to serve as draft cattle for the Japanese residents farming in Taiwan.
Tajima cattle are the original ancestors of Japanese Black Wagyu, and the direct bloodline of what would later become the world-renowned "Kobe beef." In Japan, Tajima cattle are protected under strict pedigree registration. Those that left Japan had almost no chance of remaining purebred.
After World War II, the Japanese government withdrew from Taiwan. A cattle farmer surnamed Huang took over the herd, purchasing 14 head from the Nationalist government and moving them to graze on Qingtiangang in Yangmingshan. That area had been the Dalingshan Pastoral Station since the Japanese colonial era, with grasslands spanning over a thousand hectares. At its peak, it had sheltered more than 1,700 cattle—serving as a boarding ground for draft animals from the Taipei Basin during the agricultural off-season.
For the next half century, these black cattle lived on Qingtiangang under human care, but their unique breed maintained a significant degree of reproductive isolation from the water buffalo and yellow cattle herds on the mountain. By the time the Lee Teng-hui Foundation purchased them, 19 individuals with confirmed purebred characteristics had been identified. Detailed written records of the exact head count changes have not yet been made publicly available, but genetic testing in 2018 confirmed that this herd had undergone "genetic purification" through long-term closed breeding.
📝 Curator's Note
The existence of these 19 cattle is itself a contradiction: the pure bloodlines that Japan painstakingly preserved were, by accident, maintained on a Taiwan mountain peak thanks to geographic isolation from the world. Japanese Tajima cattle have been continuously crossbred and improved under commercial pressure, while this Taiwan branch "degenerated into purity" precisely because of its remoteness.
💡 Did You Know?
Yangmingshan is home to both water buffalo and Wagyu, but they belong to different genera: water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis, 2n=50) and cattle (Bos taurus, 2n=60) have different chromosome counts and cannot naturally interbreed, so there is no risk of genetic contamination. As to whether other cattle or yellow cattle of the same genus ever mixed in—the 2018 genetic test provided the answer: Yuan Xing cattle exhibit "genetic purification," with inbreeding causing a continuous rise in homozygosity, which is precisely the inverse evidence of a long-isolated population with no foreign gene infiltration.
A 94-Year-Old Man's Last Undertaking
In August 2016, then 94-year-old former President Lee Teng-hui, after tasting Ishigaki beef on Ishigaki Island in Japan, made a decision: Taiwan should have its own premium Wagyu.
He entrusted Wang Yanchun, Secretary-General of the Lee Teng-hui Foundation, to track down the legendary black cattle of Qingtiangang. Wang found clues in historical documents, went up the mountain in person, located the owner, and negotiated the purchase. In October of the same year, the herd of 19 cattle was transferred to Fenglin Township, Hualien County, to begin formal breeding at Mega Farm.
In 2017, Japanese Wagyu specialist Nakajima Satoshi confirmed through SNP chip genetic analysis that these cattle's genetic distance from Japanese Wagyu was extremely close, while showing significant divergence from Western cattle breeds. More critically, 90 years of closed breeding had caused them to form a "genetically independent population"—not a Taiwan branch of Japanese Tajima cattle, but a new, independent strain.
Lee Teng-hui named them "Yuan Xing cattle" after his ancestral home in Sanzhi, "Yuan Xing Ju." That same year, he and his partners established Yuan Xing Ju Biotech Company, formally leading the breeding program.
| Timeline | |
|---|---|
| 1933 | Tajima cattle arrive at Keelung Harbor, transferred to the Third Pasture in Wanli |
| 1945 | Japan withdraws from Taiwan; farmer surnamed Huang purchases 14 head, moves them to Qingtiangang |
| 2016 | Lee Teng-hui Foundation purchases the 19 surviving cattle, transfers them to Mega Farm in Hualien |
| 2017 | Japanese expert confirms genetically independent strain; Yuan Xing Ju Biotech is established; officially named "Yuan Xing cattle" |
| 2020 | Yuan Xing Ju Biotech applies to the Ministry of Agriculture for new breed registration |
| 2024/6/17 | Ministry of Agriculture announces approval—Yuan Xing cattle becomes Taiwan's first privately bred and officially approved cattle breed |
| 2024/11/4 | Official naming review completed |
What "Independent Strain" Means and Why It Matters
In animal husbandry, breed registration is more than a certificate. It means: breeding farms can legally engage for commercial reproduction, offspring come with pedigree certificates, and they can enter the market pricing system.
In the same year the Ministry of Agriculture completed the naming review, the whole-genome sequencing data of Yuan Xing cattle individual K26101 was deposited in the U.S. NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) under the species name "Taiwan Wagyu," accession number JBUZMI000000000.1, completed via Whole Genome Shotgun sequencing. This means Yuan Xing cattle has not only gained recognition under Taiwan's agricultural regulations but has also entered the international bioinformatics database as an independent species—any researcher can retrieve its genome sequence from NCBI and compare it with other cattle breeds worldwide.
💡 Did You Know?
In NCBI's cattle whole-genome database, Japanese Wagyu (Wagyu) is fully represented, but Taiwan previously had no genome data for an independent cattle breed. The appearance of the "Taiwan Wagyu" accession number marks Taiwan's first time occupying a dedicated position in this database.
The genetic characteristics of Yuan Xing cattle give it several distinctive qualities:
Having grown for decades in Taiwan's low-latitude, hot, and humid environment, it is more heat-resistant and better adapted to Taiwan's climate than most Japanese Wagyu breeds. Di-Ming Chung, General Manager of Yuan Xing Ju Biotech, notes that Yuan Xing cattle carry draft cattle genetics, with higher blood sugar levels, giving the beef a sweet flavor profile—offering a differentiated choice distinct from American and Australian imports.
As of 2024, purebred Yuan Xing cattle number approximately 40 to 50 head; including bred offspring, the total population is in the hundreds. This remains far from commercial scale. The company acknowledges that meeting market demand would require raising at least 2 million head—a number Taiwan's land simply cannot support.
For this reason, Yuan Xing Ju Biotech is also evaluating another path: exporting semen to farms in Vietnam, Japan, and other locations for contract breeding, then repurchasing the beef produced for sale back in Taiwan. However, sperm exports and frozen beef repurchases still face quarantine regulatory hurdles.
⚠️ Contested Viewpoint
Some agricultural researchers point out that the current Yuan Xing cattle population remains small, commercial scale is difficult to achieve in the short term, and the breeding direction has not been fully determined. There is still considerable distance between "passing breed registration" and "becoming a commercially competitive breed." Yuan Xing cattle is a precious genetic resource, but as an industry solution, the challenges are only beginning.
A Market 94% Dependent on Imports, and a 6% Crack
To understand the significance of Yuan Xing cattle, one must first understand the structural predicament of Taiwan's beef cattle industry.
According to Ministry of Agriculture statistics, Taiwan's beef imports in 2023 totaled 172,000 metric tons, with sources in order: the United States (35%), Australia (22.85%), Paraguay (22.81%), and New Zealand (12.46%). In the same year, domestic beef production reached a historic high of 8,311 metric tons, with a self-sufficiency rate of approximately 4.6%.
| Domestic 4.6% → 8,311 metric tons | Imports 95.4% → 172,000 metric tons |
|---|---|
| Annual domestic beef production (2023 record high) | Annual beef imports (Ministry of Agriculture statistics) |
Behind this figure lies a deeper structural reality: most of Taiwan's so-called "domestic beef" does not come from specialized beef cattle, but from culled dairy cows whose milk production has declined, or dairy bull calves sold off by dairy farms. In other words, Taiwan's beef cattle industry is essentially a byproduct of the dairy industry.
Li Yichian, Director of the Ministry of Agriculture's Livestock Division, stated that the slaughter of dairy cows and dairy bulls is an important source of domestic beef supply. In 2023, approximately 40,000 head could be slaughtered nationwide, producing about 8,300 metric tons of domestic beef. The number of farms stood at 1,395, with nearly 150,000 head of cattle—a figure that includes dairy cows, fattening dairy bulls, water buffalo, and yellow crossbred cattle.
📝 Curator's Note
Taiwan has no vast grasslands, no large-scale ranches, and even the term "beef cattle policy" is quite foreign. Yet within this crack, it has nurtured a bowl of beef soup that Michelin inspectors from around the world line up for. That fact alone deserves a closer look.
A Blade Before Dawn in Shanhua
The origin of Tainan beef soup is almost entirely a localized accident.
Shanhua, in Tainan, is one of Taiwan's three major cattle markets (cow bazaars), with trading history traceable to the Qing dynasty, with records dating to around 1870. After the 1999 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, although cattle trading was suspended, the scale of the Shanhua slaughterhouse endured, making it one of the highest-volume beef slaughter locations in Taiwan.
Every Monday night into the early morning hours, work at the slaughterhouse begins. Meat vendors swiftly deliver freshly butchered, never-chilled beef to beef soup shops across Tainan. The definition of "freshly slaughtered" (溫體) is precise: beef that has been within 6 to 8 hours of slaughter and has never been refrigerated throughout the process.
This time window is a barrier that imported beef can never replicate.
Beef from the United States, Australia, and Paraguay requires ocean shipping plus customs clearance—even chilled meat takes days to weeks. During freezing, ice crystals form from the water in the meat's tissue, destroying the fiber structure. The gap in texture between thawed meat and fresh meat is insurmountable.
From a 700-kilogram cow, only about 15%—roughly 105 kilograms—is suitable for blanching in soup. The most premium cuts, from the brisket and shoulder, amount to only 2.5 kilograms. With Shanhua slaughtering 40 cattle per day, the entire city of Tainan receives only 100 kilograms of top-grade fresh beef per day.
Those 100 kilograms must be divided among Tainan's several hundred beef soup vendors. The predawn lines are not a gimmick—they are a physical reality.
✦ "The lines for Tainan beef soup are a race against the clock of freshness."
Most beef soup shops in Tainan are closed on Mondays—because the slaughterhouse does not operate on Mondays. The city's day of rest follows the cattle's schedule.
In recent years, Tainan beef soup has been consecutively featured on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list, driving nationwide demand for domestic fresh beef. Per capita beef supply reached 7.57 kilograms in 2023, a 46.4% increase over 10 years. Chang Chih-ming, Chairman of the Taiwan Beef Cattle Industry Development Association, said, "We simply can't raise them fast enough!"
The Predicament Has Not Disappeared—Only a Crack Has Been Found
The story of Yuan Xing cattle and the rise of Tainan beef soup do not mean Taiwan's beef cattle industry has solved its equation.
The challenges are concrete: to reach commercial scale, Yuan Xing Ju Biotech estimates at least 100,000 head are needed to slaughter 30,000 per year; to meet market demand of 160,000 metric tons, at least 2 million head would be required. Taiwan's land area simply cannot support such a scale.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's cattle policy has long prioritized dairy over beef, lacking a comprehensive beef cattle breeding, subsidy, and slaughter chain integration policy. Although the Ministry of Agriculture has allocated budgets to assist dairy farmers in transitioning to beef cattle operations, industry players consider the pace and scale insufficient.
Although the ractopamine issue has led some consumers to prefer domestic beef, import tariffs on beef continue to be reduced (from NT$10 per kilogram to NT$5), and market pressure has not eased.
After the New Zealand ANZTEC agreement took full effect, liquid milk entered with zero tariffs, and the resulting reduction in dairy cow numbers led to fewer newborn calves. Beginning in 2025, a shortage of domestic beef supply emerged. The industry urgently proposed a plan in April 2025 to introduce 1,000 Angus cattle to fill the supply gap.
⚠️ Contested Viewpoint
The birth of Yuan Xing cattle is encouraging, but for Taiwan's beef cattle industry to truly break through, relying on the brand story of a single breed is not enough. Structural problems—land, policy, breeding systems, slaughter chain integration—still lack systematic solutions.
Two Fates of a Cattle
Yuan Xing cattle began in the mist of Qingtiangang, and its endpoint remains uncertain.
But it has already accomplished one thing: it made Taiwanese society seriously discuss for the first time whether "we can raise our own Wagyu." Ninety years of genetic isolation turned from an accident into an asset; the obsession of a 94-year-old man turned from a personal dream into a national breed registration.
The other cattle is the one slaughtered every morning in Shanhua, appearing in the bowl of soup before you a few hours later. It is not a Yuan Xing cattle—it is a retired dairy bull, large-framed, lean, having completed the final leg of Taiwan's dairy supply chain. But its meat, within that specific window of time, possesses something no frozen beef can match.
Taiwan's competitive advantage in beef may never have been scale, but timeliness. Not vast grasslands, but same-day slaughter. Not competing with Japanese Wagyu on marbling, but having consumers line up at five in the morning for a flavor that only exists this particular morning.
This is the crack that an island has found in the global beef supply chain. The crack is small, but it is real.
References
- Wikipedia: Yuan Xing Cattle
- AgriHarvest: First Privately Bred Domestic Breed "Yuan Xing Cattle" Successfully Developed (AgriHarvest report, 2024)
- PTS Public Television News: Lee Teng-hui's Taiwanese Wagyu "Yuan Xing Cattle" Approved for New Breed Registration After 4 Years (PTS News, 2024)
- AgriHarvest: Resisting Imported Beef Competition, Domestic Cattle Improvement Roadmap (Ministry of Agriculture data, 2025)
- United Daily News / Harvest Magazine: Analysis of Domestic Beef Self-Sufficiency Rate and Import Sources (Ministry of Agriculture statistics, 2025)
- 12Foody: What You Don't Know About Freshly Slaughtered Beef—The Secret to Tainan Beef Soup's Flavor (Food culture context)
- Cat Drawer: Tainan Beef Soup—The Road from Slaughterhouse to Table (In-depth slaughter chain report)
- Tainan Tourism Website: Introduction to Shanhua Cattle Market (Official cultural background)
- Yuan Xing Ju Biotech Official Website (Primary source)
- Zeczec Crowdfunding: Yuan Xing Cattle Breeding Program (Brand narrative and product information)
- AgriHarvest: Domestic Beef Consumption Grows 36% in Five Years; Yuan Xing Cattle Launches 1,000-Head Contract Breeding Program (Consumption and industry scale data, 2025)
- AgriHarvest: How Much Do You Know About Beef Cattle? The Breeds Available in Taiwan (Dairy bull structure, Wagyu history, 2025)
- NCBI Nucleotide: Bos taurus breed Taiwan Wagyu isolate K26101, whole genome shotgun sequencing project (NCBI, international genome database deposit, accession number JBUZMI000000000.1)