For the moment, Glucosamine extracted from shrimp and crab shells prevails the market which accounted for about 85%-90% of the global capacity. This kind of Glucosamine is made of by hydrolyzing the Chitin. Since the 70s of last century, China had used the abundant fishery by-product shrimp and crab shells in its coastal areas to produce the Chitosan and then to develop series of derivatives such as Chitosan and Glucosamine. At the end of the 90s of last century, China had been the largest producer and exporter of Chitin and Glucosamine in the world which represents 85-90% of the total product now.
Now in China’s coastal areas, there are at least 20 more factories producing the raw material of Glucosamine. The total domestic product capacity can be 14000-15000 tons and the actual product are about 13500 tons, among which the largest factory in Fujian province takes about 30% and the second one which located in Zhejiang province 13%, the third one lies in Jiangsu province 10%. There are also some small factories located in Shangdong, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces but with little capacity. Futhermore, the factories in Southeast Asia countries such as Vietnam, India and Indonesia produce 300-400 tons of Glucosamine (extracted from shrimp and crab shells) every year.（quote out of ‘the analysis of prevention and cure of osteoarthritis by Glucosamine’ in Chinese journal ‘China Health Monthly’ No. 5 (2011).） 
