Lithuania makes inroads into China dairy market

Lithuania is making inroads into China's dairy market as one of the country's largest dairy producers has shipped its first product delivery to the Northeast Asian country.

Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that dairy company Rokiskio Suris has sent the first testing cargo of lactose to business partners in China.

The company said it had signed a contract for "a few hundred tonnes of the product".

"Further cooperation will be negotiated when the partners receive the product and make trials of it at their own facilities", the company added.

According to the news report, this was one of the first attempts by Lithuanian dairy companies to enter the Chinese dairy market. In August last year, 16 Lithuanian dairy producers were granted permission by Chinese authorities to export their products to China.

Earlier this year, dairy producer Vilkyskiu Pienine was the first to enter the Chinese market by exporting around 20 tonnes of mozzarella cheese.

The Lithuanian dairy industry was hard hit by Russia's embargo on food imports from the EU in 2014. Russia was one of the main export markets of Lithuanian dairy producers. Since then, Lithuania has been pursuing efforts to enter new markets.