MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China opens market to Argentine beef and poultry

China opened its market to Argentine beef and poultry following the certification of several plants which Buenos Aires hopes will further boost bilateral trade.

In a joint communiqué the Argentine ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs confirmed that five abattoirs had eleven poultry plants had been authorized by Chinese sanitary authorities to begin shipments to the giant Asian market.

China's annual per capita consumption of beef is currently three kilograms.

"The opening of this expanding market is direct consequence of the consolidation of bilateral relations following the visits by Argentine President Nestor Kirchner to Beijing in June 2004 and Chinese President Hu Jintao to Buenos Aires in November of that same year" pointed out the Argentine release.

In the first five months of 2005, Argentina, the world's third largest beef exporter, shipped 221,000 tons of beef valued in 488 million US dollars, a 41% increase in volume and 38% in value compared to the same period in 2004. Last year Argentine beef exports totalled half a million tons valued approximately one billion US dollars.

China has become Argentina's fifth important trade partner. In the first four months of this year Chinese imports from Argentina reached 736 million US dollars mainly mineral and agricultural commodities.