Austria, China reach agreement on frozen pork trade

Andrä Rupprechter, Austria’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment, and Water Management, accompanied Austrian President Heinz Fischer to China to sign a three-part agreement relating to frozen pork exports to China, China-Austria agricultural cooperation, and the China-Austria Sutong Ecological Park project.
After the agreement on pork exports is signed, the two sides will begin negotiations on immunity protocols. Rupprechter hopes that the first batch of frozen pork from Austria will be exported to China before the end of 2015, according to a report provided by Smart Agriculture Analytics. 


Other Austria-China agricultural trade topics
It’s estimated that by 2023, sales volume in China’s cheese market will increase by 50 percent to exceed 500,000 tons. Although China’s demand for milk is growing rapidly, Austria’s milk exports to China remain relatively small-scale. In 2014, Austria exported only 270 tons of milk to China, leaving huge potential for growth. Austria has also expressed interest in exporting beef to China. By 2023, sales volume in China’s beef market will increase by 25 percent to reach 8.5 million tons.
Asia is now Austria’s primary export market for agricultural goods. In 2014, exports to the continent grew by 18 percent to reach nearly EUR560 million (US$607.3 million) — the first year exports to Asia exceeded those to the United States. Of the EUR560 million in goods exported to Asia, exports to China grew to CNY50 million (US$8.13 million), doubling in two years.