Imported beef is sold in a supermarket in Shanghai on August 20, 2020. Photo: VCG

Lithuania should adhere to the one-China principle and reflect on its human rights abuses, a spokesperson from the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, after Chinese customs suspended import declarations for Lithuanian beef from Wednesday.

Analysts said that Lithuania, on the one hand, wants to share the dividends of the Chinese market, but on the other hand, wants to muddy the waters about Taiwan in a sinister attempt to harm China's national interests. 

"What Lithuania should do is to face up to the facts, correct its own mistakes and come back to the right track of adhering to the one-China principle, rather than confusing right and wrong and slandering China," a spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

The General Administration of Customs (GAC) said it will suspend the acceptance of import declarations of Lithuanian beef from Wednesday, according to a document released on Wednesday.

The suspension of Lithuanian beef declarations is a compliance operation in accordance with relevant customs standards, and there is no need to over-interpret it, Hu Qimu, chief research fellow at the Sinosteel Economic Research Institute, told the Global Times on Thursday.

It is seen that the document released by the customs is being updated in real time. 

The GAC also suspended meat import declarations of an Australian firm from January 29 and those for all pork-related products from Italy to enter China starting on January 24.

"China's meat imports have always been accepted on the premise of protecting people's health, and this practice has its own strict import inspection and quarantine standards," Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The import of meat products that meet the requirements of China produced by the two Argentine enterprises have resumed since January 28, 2022. 

Exports of pork, beef and poultry products from seven new US enterprises that met China's requirements were allowed starting January 21, 2022, read the GAC document.

"Under the framework of China and Central and Eastern European Countries Cooperation (China-CEEC Cooperation), China encourages CEEC countries to expand trade in agricultural products. But Lithuania pulled out of the cooperation mechanism in 2021, so it can't enjoy the benefits. Lithuania should eat its own bitter fruit," said Cui.

Lithuania's beef exports to China will account for less than one-thousandth of China's import needs, but will bring higher incomes to Lithuanian workers and create more jobs in Lithuania, according to a statement released by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) in August 2017, saying then that Lithuanian beef would be exported to China soon.

In Lithuania, 85 percent of live cattle are raised on family farms. Nearly 80,000 rural families, or 400,000 people, are engaged in animal husbandry and related work such as slaughtering and processing, accounting for about 14 percent of the total population of Lithuania, said the MOFCOM.

"China is now the biggest consumption market of beef. The future market for beef exports to China is promising. Lithuania should abide by the one-China principle and restore normal diplomatic relations with China, and then carry out normal economic and trade exchanges. This is also in Lithuania's national interest," said Hu.

In 2021, China's beef imports reached 2.33 million tons, up 10.1 percent from 2020. The value of beef imports stood at $12.49 billion in 2021, up 22.7 percent year-on-year, according to GAC statistics.

Of all beef imports, China imported 858,474 tons from Brazil, 465,068 tons from Argentina, 162,769 tons from Australia, 143,926 tons from the US, 15,457 tons from Chile and 775 tons from Lithuania.

China's beef imports are forecast to reach a new record of 3.25 million tons in 2022, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

The visit of Lithuania's foreign minister to Australia is seen as an attempt to export its products to Australia, especially beef, said analysts. 

"Australia itself is a net exporter of beef. Resulting from Canberra's deliberate efforts to fray bilateral ties with China, beef exports to China have decreased sharply. 

"At this moment, Lithuania's market expansion to Australia is more of a political consolation than economic feasibility," Hu noted.