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Stewart was speaking after a successful trade mission to Beijing which included a reception in The British Centre, Beijing, with the support of HRH the Duke of York.

Stewart was one of a delegation aiming to explain to influential members of the Chinese pig production and pork processing sector, key civil servants and the Chinese trade media that British pork and breeding pigs are high quality and safe.

Stewart said: "Opening up the Chinese market is vitally important. Not only is it the largest producer and consumer of pork in the world but also it will act as a catalyst to help us gain entry to other Far Eastern markets.

"This will be of direct benefit to British producers because there is a demand for certain parts of the carcase which have a higher value in South East Asia.

"We will do all we can to speed the lengthy process of getting export certificates and we are working closely with organisations such as Defra.

"However, this is not something that is going to happen overnight as, among other things, Chinese vets will have to visit Britain as part of the certification process.

"We had a great deal of help from a number of people and organisations, including Agriculture Minister Lord Whitty and the China-Britain Business Council which arranged this trade mission."

"I am very grateful to the Duke of York who was very supportive and showed a genuine interest in trying to help us through the hurdles we are facing."

As well as meeting representatives of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture the delegation also met trade associations.

The mission included a visit to the Shineway Corporation, one of China's largest integrated pork processors.

This follows the appearance of Shineway President Wan Long at the World Pork Congress, organised by BPEX, in Birmingham last year.

The other members of the delegation were BPEX Chief Executive Mick Sloyan and Meat and Livestock Commission International Manager Peter Hardwick.

Pictured above, left to right: Jing Jizhong, vice chairman with responsibility
for pigs at the China Animal Agriculture Association; Stewart Houston; Chen
Yachun, president of the China Animal Agriculture Association;
Mick Sloyan; Peter Hardwick.

Additional Information

The pig industry in China comprises 37.8 million sows producing 45 million tonnes of pork.

The population of 1.3 billion people consumes approximately 32 kg pig meat per capita annually.

Source: BPEX - 7th May