As China’s appetite for steak grows, Beijing ends its beef with imports
China was world’s second-largest beef importer last year, buying more than 800,000 tonnes worth US$2.6 billion
China, the world’s top meat market, is loosening long-standing restrictions on beef imports from major suppliers to feed the appetite of the country’s growing middle class for steaks and ribs.
Over the past few decades, Beijing banned imports of beef from European countries and the United States during outbreaks of mad cow disease.
Worries about the disease are subsiding following more stringent inspections on foreign arrivals, while Chinese people are seeking healthier sources of protein and adopting more Western eating habits.
Beef is now the fastest-growing meat in China, outstripping stagnant demand for more widely eaten pork as consumers look to reduce fat in their diets.
