(Yicai Global) May 22 -- Phil Hogan, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development in the European Commission, has visited China five times in this single year. This time, he brought 70 EU firms to the 2018 China International Food Products and Beverage Exhibition, which is Asia's largest food innovation fair, to boost trade.

Agricultural products from the EU are very attractive to Chinese consumers despite the China-US trade friction, said Hogan in an interview with Yicai Global. EU's agricultural product exports to China grew at a 3-percent rate to increase EUR300 million from March 2017 to February this year.

EU statistics show that the gross export value of EU products to China, such as meat and dairy, has doubled during the past five years. China estimated the annual supply gap of beef in China at 8 million tons, which is greater than EU's gross output of this meat every year. EU producers have expressed their resolution to add their portion in this market, said Hogan.

Irish beef exports to China got the green light in April last year. Other EU countries, namely France, Germany and the Netherland, will also make presence in the Chinese beef market in the near future, predicted Hogan.

Brazil, Uruguay, Australia, and New Zealand contribute 90 percent of imported beef in China. The Asian country granted American beef admission to the market last year after a 14-year ban.

Four of the visiting firms in Hogan's party were French agricultural producers. Chinese market is currently opening its door to pork from France so many want to develop Chinese consumers' preference for their products, said Eldjida Makhloufi, person in charge of export and legal affairs in the Federation des Industriels Charcutiers, Traiteurs et Transformateurs de Viandes.

French suppliers would also like to provide apples and kiwifruits, for these types of fruit boast long maturity dates, said Daniel Corbel, the person in charge of the Inter-Branch Association of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Industry.

The four suppliers also expressed their interest in the first China International Import Expo to be held in Shanghai in this November.

SIAL China 2018, the fourth-biggest food show in the world, was held in Shanghai from May 16-18.

Editor: Emmi Laine