After more than two decades, China wants to lift import restrictions on beef from Germany. The way for apple exports has also been paved.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Agriculture Minister Cem zdemir (Greens) returned from the state visit with an export deal. China is planning to import German-produced beef again after more than twenty years. At the same time, a joint declaration on opening the Chinese market for German apples was signed. The agreement marks the first step towards market opening and ensures that phytosanitary risks are minimized, the German Agriculture Ministry said in a press release on Wednesday (April 17). A quantum leap has also been made in the export of German apples to China. The deal was reached after a visit by Chinese experts to German apple-growing regions later this year, the BMEL reports. The German government says the deal is a "great success" for the German economy and the country's agriculture industry. It is the first time since the BSE crisis of the early 2000s that exporting beef to China has not been possible.