China becomes largest importer of Russian meat

Russia more than doubled its meat exports in the first six months of this year, RBC daily reports, citing data from the Russian Agricultural Bank. China has become the largest buyer of Russian meat, ahead of Ukraine, data showed.

Mainland China accounted for 45 percent of Russian meat shipments in physical terms, while Hong Kong for 54 percent of the supplies.

Analysts explained that exports from Russia grew mainly due to an increase in the supply of poultry meat. China has been buying poultry as well as chilled beef. Russian meat producer Cherkizovo is looking to expand its presence in the Chinese market. The company has been in talks on pork supplies to China, which is the world’s largest consumer of pork.

Customs data showed that Russia’s exports of food and agricultural products to China increased by 25 percent from January to May, amounting to $1.8 billion.

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