France, July 12 -- "At the moment, we are not worried that China is going to topple France as the world's leading foie gras producer," said Fabien Chevalier, chairman of the French foie gras industry group CIFOG.

Chevalier told RFI he was nevertheless surprised by the speed of China's expansion over the last two years.

"We think the Chinese produced around 12,000 tonnes of foie gras in 2024 and it increased in 2025. Knowing that the French production was around 15,000 tonnes in 2025, the Chinese output is quite significant," he said.

A mix of government subsidies and large-scale farming has helped fuel that growth. But China's foie gras industry has developed very differently from France's, from the birds it raises to the products it s...