Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters — China’s pork output posted significant signals toward recovery last year after the sector was decimated by an incurable hog disease in 2019, official data showed Monday. China’s 2020 pork output fell 3.3 per cent from a year earlier, to 41.13 million tonnes, after plunging 21 per cent in 2019, the National […] Read more
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China’s 2020 pork output higher than expected
Reported slowing of ASF-induced decline beats expectations
China to approve further domestic GMO corn, soy crop varieties
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters — China said on Monday it was set to approve the safety of another genetically modified (GMO) corn variety and a GMO soybean, both produced by Beijing Dabeinong Technology Group Co. Ltd. The move comes after China last year approved three domestically designed GMO crops as safe, the first in a decade, […] Read more
Flush with cash, Chinese hog producer builds world’s largest pig farm
Reading Time: 3 minutes China | Reuters – Behind the walls of a hulking industrial compound in rural China, top pig producer Muyuan Foods is trying to raise more hogs on a single site than any company in the world – a risky investment with deadly African swine fever lingering. The new farm, which began construction in March and […] Read more
China’s coronavirus testing chokes beef trade
Additional inspections, disinfections costly for importers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Beijing | Reuters — In a supermarket in downtown Beijing, refrigerator shelves normally filled with steak from around the world sit empty as tougher testing for the novel coronavirus creates supply bottlenecks and raises prices for importers. Fresh supplies of beef won’t arrive for days, a salesman at the Suning.com-owned Carrefour outlet told Reuters — […] Read more
Irritated trade partners push back on China’s coronavirus food tests
Canada rips testing as 'unjustified trade restrictions'
Reading Time: 3 minutes Beijing/Geneva | Reuters — Major food-producing countries are growing increasingly frustrated with China’s scrutiny of imported products and are calling on it to stop aggressive testing for the coronavirus, which some say is tantamount to a trade restriction. China says it has found the virus on the packaging of products from 20 countries including German […] Read more
China targets pork self-sufficiency rate of 95 per cent
Imported beef increasing in market share
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters — China is aiming to produce 95 per cent of its pork at home, according to a cabinet document outlining plans for its livestock sector, underscoring a goal to quickly rebuild its huge pig herd after a major disease epidemic. The document, released on Sunday, comes amid a heightened focus on food […] Read more
Food exporters to China asked to declare produce coronavirus-free
Declaration puts onus on exporters for product safety
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters — China’s customs authority has asked food exporters to the country to sign a declaration their produce is not contaminated by the novel coronavirus, three people who received a letter said on Friday. The declaration, seen by Reuters, may be an effort by China to reduce the additional testing it has carried […] Read more
China hits Australia with barley tariff
Duty to last for five years; China may turn to Canada, other exporters
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing/Sydney | Reuters — China added to tensions with Australia on Monday by announcing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties totalling 80.5 per cent on Australian barley imports from Tuesday (May 19), which is expected to all but halt a billion-dollar trade between them. China’s ministry of commerce said it had confirmed dumping by Australia and significant […] Read more
China’s beef imports to drop as hotpot comes off the boil
Reading Time: 3 minutes Beijing | Reuters — Just over two months ago, the Jinyuan Fucheng Beef Hotpot restaurant in northern Beijing had a long line of customers waiting outside its doors almost every night of the week. Now, the restaurant that can seat 800 barely fills 20 tables a day, with most people still wary of dining out […] Read more
China to resume imports of Canadian canola, sources report
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters — China has agreed to allow imports of Canadian canola to resume, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Tuesday, lifting a ban in place since March 2019 that had halted US$2 billion worth of trade. The agreement was reached during a call held by China’s customs administration and Canada’s […] Read more
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