ABSTRACT
In spite of the increasing global awareness of the religious market, halal food culture has been integrated in the society in China for hundreds of years. Under the current political regime in China, there are 23 provinces, 4 municipalities directly under the central government, 5 autonomous regions, and 2 special administrative regions (SARs). In each of the 34 regions, halal food is certified differently: some are supervised and certified by regional government agencies, and some are by religious associations. This chapter summarises the halal food certification systems in each of these regions in China, and compares these systems in terms of a series of criteria, including authorities, processes, labels. One of the five autonomous regions, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region for Hui people, a Chinese ethnic group that is composed predominantly of adherents of Islam. Halal food certification in NHAR is studied as a special case in the chapter.
