The rapid development and increase in income in China has made New Zealand-based Silver Fern Farms very confident about its investment in the country.
According to Simon Limmer, Chief Executive of Silver Fern Farms, China is the biggest market for meat producers as its people are more interested in buying pork, chicken, duck and beef.
He added that the high demand for meat sources by the Chinese people has given space to the country to expand the market to the next phase.
The proof is that China is the most important country in New Zealand for the product category after being the largest importer of New Zealand's red meat.
Through data from the General Administration of Customs in August, China imported 658,000 tons of meat which increased by 2.4% monthly while beef imports increased 1% month-on-month to 273,000 tons.
Meanwhile, China imported 1.70 million tons of beef in the first eight months, up 12% year-on-year.
Customs data shows that the country imported 4.10 million tons of meat worth US$17 billion (RM80 billion) in January to July.
Therefore, the average import price of meat reached US$4,156 (RM19,616) per ton, which is 27.6% higher than in 2021.
In the meantime, China is confident in the red meat consumption market and encourages its people to get high-quality food ingredients, commented Bo Wenxi, chief economist at marketing firm Interpublic Group China.
