Finnish pork in China for the first time

Finnish pork, renowned for its quality and flavour, is being exported to China for the first time.

Screenshot of the official website of Finnish meat producer Atria [Photo: China Plus]

That's according to Xinhua news agency, who report that Finnish meat producer Atria has started exporting to China already, with a second producer, HKScan, set to follow soon.

Chinese appetite for the meat seems to be insatiable. Already the world's largest importer of pork, last year there was a sharp increase in trade to over 1.5 million tonnes.

The news comes after we reported in December that French pork was set to be exported to China, and in August and October that two pork production facilities in Northern Ireland, together with three in England, had been approved to export to the country.

The approval for the plants to export their products to China took several months to complete, and involved Chinese officials visiting the facilities to check their standards, and undertaking detailed inspections of hygiene procedures.

Trade from the two processing plants in Northern Ireland alone could be worth as much as £10 million every year, with the British government claiming the agreement could be worth £200 million to the British economy, and support 1,500 jobs.