October 21, 2010

Canada eyes Chinese beef market

A Canadian trade mission from the New West Partnership, a group representing the provinces of British Columbia (BC), Alberta and Saskatchewan, began a four-day China trip on Sunday (Oct 17) covering Beijing and Shanghai to promote its beef industry.

The mission seeks to raise awareness of the Western Canada beef market after China formally lifted a long-standing ban on Canadian boneless beef derived from cattle under 30 months in July.

With the global outbreak of BSE, or mad-cow disease, Canadian beef exports to China had been closed since 2003.

Canada has around 90,000 cattle farms with about five million beef cattle. Almost half the production is dedicated to the international market. BC, and predominantly Alberta and Saskatchewan, account for about 74% of the country's beef production, according to Statistics Canada.

"A growing middle class in China is looking for protein in the diets and beef is a great opportunity for that. So we think there are some real opportunities for our industry," said Steve Thomson, the BC minister of Agricultural and Lands.

Another advantage of the China market is it likes all cuts of beef, Thomson added. With US being Canada's largest export market, the re-opening of the China market could help in reducing the country's reliance on the US market.

The New West Partnership was formed in April with the three provinces coming together to form an economic unit representing nine million people and a combined GDP of more than CAD550 billion (US$538 billion). The partnership has removed barriers to trade, increased investment and labour mobility, and is seeking to attract top talent and capitalise on their combined buying power.

Last year, the three provinces combined for CAD19.8 billion (US$19.3 billion) in exports to Asia, a 41% increase from 2000. The figure included CAD6.6 billion (US$6.4 billion) in total exports to China.

"There's strength in the collective work of the three provinces," Thomson said. "The agricultural and agri-food of the three provinces represent close to 50% of the agricultural industry in Canada.

"China is our second largest bilateral trading partner and third largest market for our exports," he added.