China is to reopen its market to imports of German poultry meat.
Beijing had stopped imports of German poultry meat after an outbreak of the bird flu disease in the country but Germany’s agriculture minister Julia Kloeckner confirmed the ban has now been lifted.
She said after talks in Berlin with Chinese agriculture minister Han Changfu “the Chinese side has come to the conclusion that there is no reason for concern” about German poultry meat.
Meanwhile, news agency Reuters reported Kloeckner also pressed China not to impose a complete ban on German pork should the African swine fever disease be found in the country and to take a more regional view of the problem.
While no case has yet been detected in Germany’s wild boar population, African swine fever has been detected in parts of eastern Europe.
China is one of Germany’s largest markets for pork exports and Berlin will want to avoid a complete ban.
Li Keqiang, China’s Premier, is keen to boost links between the countries in emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, new energy vehicles and self-driving technologies.
China Daily, the Chinese government news service, reported Premier Li made the call for closer collaboration between the countries on Monday (9 July) at the China-Germany Economic and Technical Cooperation Forum, also attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
