The announcement came as China stepped up inspections of wholesale food markets and outlawed the sale and consumption of wildlife, after a recent COVID-19 outbreak in Beijing was traced to a major agricultural wholesale market.
Live poultry kept in cages is a common sight in agricultural wholesale food markets and "wet markets" -- smaller-scale fresh food markets -- across China.
Beijing,
China on Friday vowed to gradually phase out the slaughter and sale of live poultry at food markets, in a move welcomed by animal rights activists amid the coronavirus pandemic.
