Britain has secured a lucrative agreement to export pig semen for Chinese breeders and is hoping to follow up with a deal to supply pig trotters for high-end restaurants.
The pig semen deal, worth an estimated £45 million, was sealed during David Cameron’s three-day trade visit to China and follows a similar accord last year on the export of live pigs.
China’s consumpion of pork has soared over the past 40 years and the country now farms half the world’s pigs. Authorities see the improvement of pig genetics as key to increasing the efficiency of its production while minimising the environmental impact.
The UK pork industry has been lobbying for the inclusion of semen on the grounds that the Chinese pork producers they deal with