China's New Dietary Guidelines Reduce Meat Consumption

While China remains closed to U.S. beef due to the BSE-related suspension imposed in 2003, pork exports to China have achieved strong growth in 2016. Through April, pork exports to China totaled more than $220 million – nearly double the value total from the same period last year.

Recently China's Ministry of Health issued new dietary guidelines calling for Chinese citizens to significantly reduce their meat consumption.

Despite these new guidelines, Joel Haggard US Meat Export Federation Senior Vice President for the Asia Pacific says says he does not expect the new guidelines to have much impact on consumer behavior, but added that Chinese consumers – especially in major urban areas – are becoming more health conscious when purchasing food items.

Haggard: "Although the totals are large, China's per capita meat consumption is still below that of Western nations including the U.S. Almost all analysts are expecting meat consumption to continue to increase. Especially as more of the country's population moves from rural to urban areas and as incomes increase. But growing awareness of diet and health issues especially by urban residents could moderate consumption growth and among the very demographic where analysts thought meat consumption would expand."