A Belgian pork producer has been given approval to export an estimated 56,000 tonnes a year to China, which Belgium's agriculture minister says will give a major boost to the country's farming sector.
Belgian leading pork company Noordvlees Van Gool, along with other local pork companies welcomed on Tuesday Chinese Ambassador Qu Xing and Belgian Agriculture Minister Willy Borsus in Kalmthout, near the northwest Belgian port of Antwerp, to mark an approval of pork exports to China.
During the signing ceremony, several Belgian enterprises have been granted licenses of export to China.
Borsus said the pigmeat sector is very important in Belgium, yet facing a number of challenges in the field of planning, the environment and manure processing, that's why "this agreement will give major boost to the entire agriculture sector".
"I am convinced that today's signature predicts results in other fields, such as the export of beef or poultry meat, for which advanced negotiations between our two countries are ongoing," he added.
While Ambassador Qu Xing said that allowing import of Belgian pork to China made by the food safety authorities of two countries marked a new outcome of China-Belgium cooperation, adding China is bound to be a big consumer of agricultural products.
Qu said that pork has been an important source of animal protein in China and he hoped that Belgian pork business in China would achieve greater success in coming years.
