DONG’E Ejiao Co., China’s largest ejiao, or donkey-hide gelatin, producer, said Friday that it will raise the price of the firm’s products by 6 percent.

Now the ejiao bars from the Shenzhen-listed firm sell for 5,396 yuan (US$783) per kilogram on its official online store.

The decision to raise the price of the product was based on market supply and demand and as the supply of donkey hides, the source of ejiao, continues to dwindle, according to the company.

Ejiao is a traditional Chinese medicine made from boiling down donkey hide and has been used by Chinese people for more than 2,500 years. Ejiao is mainly taken by women who suffer from anemia, dry coughs or dizziness. The name was coined in Dong’e County in eastern China’s Shandong Province, where it was originally produced.

In recent years, ejiao manufacturers have experienced difficulties with the shortage of donkey hides, as the low fertility rate of donkeys and agricultural modernization discourage people from raising the animal. Meanwhile, many countries have banned donkey skin exports.

The decreasing supply combined with strong demand for ejiao has led to price surges for donkey hides in China. In 2000, a whole donkey skin only cost about 220 yuan. The price was up to 3,000 yuan in 2017.

About 90 percent of the country’s ejiao products are made in Shandong, which mainly imports donkey skin from Peru, Mexico and Egypt. (Xinhua)