September 21, 2004

China Resumes Cattle Exports To Middle East After 8-Year Lull
 

China has resumed exports of live cows and sheep to the Middle East for the first time since the trade was suspended eight years ago, due to demand and price considerations, state media said.

Some 1,700 cows and 43,000 sheep were leaving from Qinhuangdao Port in northern Hebei province for Jordan, the State General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (SGAQSIQ) said.

China started to export live cows and sheep to the Middle East in 1983 and shipped more than 1.5 million head before the trade was halted in 1996.

"The resumption of the exports will promote the stock breeding industry in China," according to Xia Hongmin, director of animal and plant quarantine supervision at SGAQSIQ.

"China will grasp the chance to further tap the Middle East and the international market."