China officially confirmed this Monday that it is lifting the veto on Spanish beef, in force since the “mad cow” epidemic in 2001. The novelty had been announced on Sunday by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, met in Córdoba with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. This is the second big news in a month for the meat sector, after Algeria – the third market for Spanish cattle – annulled the boycott of Spanish producers, adopted after Pedro Sánchez’s government aligned itself with Morocco in the Western Sahara conflict.
The director of the Provacuno producer organization, Javier López, makes a “totally positive assessment, of normalization of a situation that was not logical, since in 2016 it was certified that Spain was clean.” Beyond health considerations, other diplomatic ones seem to come into play. Starting with China’s decision to deal with this issue country by country and not with the community bloc.
“Spain is not among the first nor among the last to leave the list,” says López, who recalls that Ireland was a pioneer in exporting to China again, “at the time when the Commissioner for Agriculture was the Irishman Phil Hogan. “. Last June, China also lifted the veto on producers from Belgium and Poland, for cattle less than 30 months old. While other important producers, such as Denmark, remain in purgatory.
China could be the icing on the cake for Spanish beef exports to Asia, mostly new markets that in a very short time – since the pandemic – have come to represent a sixth of the turnover, thanks to the demographic and economic growth of countries like Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Catalan beef producers, who export two hundred million euros, celebrate Beijing’s decision. Àngela Casanovas, director of Asoprovac, explains: “Our reaction is very positive because it is a very interesting market in which we have been working for a long time, with several visits by Chinese authorities to Catalonia.” Ella Casanovas values ??that it is a market “with great potential”, although she recommends looking for “the quality commercial strip, not a quantity that we cannot attend.”
The Chinese opening is due to market reasons. Veal consumption is growing much faster than production there. China also represents an added incentive for Spanish producers, since it consumes parts of the animal – such as tendons, in addition to all the entrails – generally rejected in Europe. The same thing happens with chicken feet. However, the great success story is that of pork.
Spain has become the leading exporter of pork and pork products to China, doubling the second largest exporter (Brazil) and tripling the third largest exporter (Denmark). A demand met, to a large extent, by Catalan farms.
Quite a revolution, as Catalan restaurateur Willy Trullàs Moreno recalls, who arrived in China “when Iberian pork was still illegal”, due to swine flu.
The beef sector is aware of the size of the Chinese market, but also that, for cultural reasons, it is not possible to replicate the success of the pork sector, for cultural reasons. López calls for caution: “The veto has been lifted, but now the ministries must specify the formulas and then the Chinese inspections will arrive.” He also believes that “there will not be spectacular figures, because Brazil or Argentina do not have to follow the long list of EU rules, while Australia is closer.” However, “there is a long way to go, because China cannot satisfy its demand, because it does not even have suitable land to do so.”
Trullàs Moreno, who once had six restaurants in Shanghai – including El Willy, which has become a brand – now maintains one, Tomatito. “I think it’s great that we will soon be able to import beef from Spain. We will certainly introduce it to the menu, where steak with romesco sauce is one of our premium dishes.”
This adjective is often heard in relation to beef in Asia. It is not a meat that is eaten daily or weekly. In China, seven times more pork is consumed. In Bangkok there is more sophistication, for three generations, but in China beef is associated with American-style steaks and for not so many years.”
China imports beef mainly from the following countries, in order of importance: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, New Zealand, the United States and Australia. However, Beijing’s relationship with Javier Milei’s Argentina has been affected by his decision to cancel his country’s entry into the BRICS group.
On the other hand, in his meeting yesterday Monday with Pedro Sánchez, in Madrid, Wang Yi insisted on China’s constructive role: “We want to work with European countries to jointly safeguard the free trade system, practice multilateralism, promote multipolarization equitable world and universal and inclusive economic globalization”.
Although exports are driving the Spanish economy, with food playing an especially important role, the chronic trade deficit with China reached a new record at the end of 2022, with 33,968 million euros. The advice that Wang gave to Spanish exporters in Córdoba was to bet on quality.
And although, as was already known, the pandas at the Madrid Zoo already have a return ticket to China, Wang Yi promised to send younger specimens to Spain as soon as possible. Carnivore diplomacy is not at odds with panda diplomacy, champion of conservationism and good feelings on Tiktok.
(Hundreds of tapas restaurants in Asia are the first to be interested in the Spanish raw material. Below, the first branch in Manila of Tomatito, which opens its second this month)