British beef to get market access by end-2019 after series of trade deals signed

Source:Global Times Published: 2019/6/23 22:28:39

British beef could be served in China at the end of 2019 which will bring millions of pounds in income to the UK's cattle husbandry sector.

This shows China's commitment to opening up further and upholding multilateral trade mechanisms amid rising protectionism and unilateralism driven by the US, experts said Sunday.

Trade agreements worth more than 500 million pounds ($637 million), reached by enterprises from China and the UK recently at the 10th China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue held in London, cover financial services, technology and agriculture cooperation, according to media reports.

China's beef market access agreement is expected to bring about 230 million pounds to British cattle farms in the first five years of this trade, said a statement released by the UK government news site gov.uk on June 17. The agreement reflects the strength of Britain's relationship with China, and a mutual commitment to trade, said the statement.

Given the gloomy global economy and rising protectionism stoked by the US, it is a reasonable move for China to develop flexible trading partnerships with other countries to stabilize its market supply, Jiao Shanwei, a Zhengzhou-based veteran industry analyst, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"China's domestic beef supply is insufficient and needs to be complemented by imports. This will be good for consumers -- expanding their choices and lowering prices," Jiao said.

China has been making efforts to open up its market and uphold the multilateral basis of global trade. This isn't just beneficial to Chinese consumers, it's also a way to motivate the domestic cattle industry to upgrade, he said.

After the outbreak of mad cow disease in the UK in 1996, the EU took the lead to ban imports of British beef. China and other countries later joined the ban. 

China banned the import of US beef in 2003, but it lifted the ban in 2017.



Posted in: ECONOMY

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