Abstract: China has long history for meat and meat products recorded by many ancient documents. For two decades, the total meat production in China consistently ranks first place in the world with the consumption of pork meat dominant in the market. In China, a broad definition of meat includes all edible tissues of animals, basically including livestock animals, poultry, and aquatic species. A stricter definition of meat is that consisting of the skeletal muscle and associated fat. Three main consumption patterns for fresh meat in China include hot-fresh meat, chilled-fresh meat, and frozen meat. While hot-fresh meat accounts for 60% of market share in China, the trend has been shifting towards more chilled-fresh meat. Processed meat products are composed of large varieties and categories in China, and some of the Chinese traditional meat products symbolize native characteristics, are not well developed, and require further standardization and industrialization. The pre-slaughter management and aging process of fresh meat is not performed well, resulting in inferior meat quality, and meat safety still remains a major concern for the meat industry in China.