Customers buy meat at a Chaoshifa supermarket branch in Haidian District of Beijing, capital of China, June 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

China imported 7.41 million tons of meat worth $23.1 billion in the first three quarters of 2020, a year-on-year growth of 72 percent and 83 percent respectively, both breaking records, Li Chenggang, Assistant Minister of Commerce, announced at the 11th China International Meat Conference (CIMC) during the third China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai on Sunday.

With the expansion of meat imports, the diversity of import sources has also grown. As of Sunday, China has imported meat products, such as pork, beef, mutton and poultry, from more than 40 countries and regions around the world, covering almost all meat export countries. This both enriches options available to Chinese consumers and brings profitable returns for export countries, Li said.

"China is a country with a population of 1.4 billion people with great buying power, meat products play an essential role in people's daily lives," said Li. However, Li noted that the level of meat consumption per person in China is far from the world average. Li believes that the demand for meat products will continuously increase in the future. "From the aspect of future development, the increasing population in China will carry with it a rigid demand for meat products," said Li, "From the aspect of trade policies, China should implement positive import policies and provide more opportunities for meat products to enter the Chinese market."

Li said CIIE is an international platform which can shorten the distance between Chinese consumers and foreign meat companies. "CIIE can also strengthen the cooperation of meat production, epidemic prevention and international trade and further contributions for both the meat industry and the health of humanity," said Li.