January 21, 2023

China to end ban on beef imports from Spain

China has agreed to lift a ban on imports of beef from Spain, the foreign ministers of both nations said on February 18 following talks.

China has since 2000 imposed a ban on beef products from the European Union due to the emergence of several cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, in several members of the bloc that year.

"It is good news, especially for Spanish farmers," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a joint news conference with his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares in Cordoba in southern Spain. The announcement came as farmers in Spain have for the past two weeks taken part in EU-wide protests over heavy regulation, high costs and cheaper imports that they say have left them struggling to make ends meet.

"When you take into account the size of the Chinese market, the impact is going to be extraordinarily positive," Albares said. "This is a measure which we have long been asking for and which benefits the entire countryside. It is hard to find a market like the Chinese market."

- AFP