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Interview: EU eyes Chinese market to alleviate agri-food crisis: commissioner

Xinhua, April 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

The European Union (EU) looks forward to boosting agri-food exports to China and other parts in Asia as it seeks new markets to offset the loss of sales to Russia and cope with overproduction, said EU agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan.

"There are considerable opportunities for the European producers of agricultural products in China," the commissioner said, citing as most important factors the large Chinese population, its growing middle class.

"European agricultural exports achieved significant gains in the Chinese market last year," said Hogan in an interview with Xinhua ahead of a scheduled visit to China on April 16.

Hard-hit by the dramatic drop in sales to the Russian market due to a ban imposed by Moscow on EU food since August 2014 in response to Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, Europe's farmers suffered further blows in recent months as demand in emerging economies slowed down and prices plunged.

Accompanied by a business delegation, the commissioner's visit to China is the second in a series of trade missions he launched this year to open up new markets for EU agri-food products in an effort to alleviate the current crisis.

"Our goal is to open the door to potential business opportunities between European producers and agri-business in China and particularly in the sector of diary and pig meat products," Hogan said.

According to EU figures, China has become the second biggest agricultural export market for the EU from fifth in 2010. EU exports of agri-food to China increased by 39 percent in 2015, attaining a value of 10 billion euros (about 11.3 billion U.S. dollars).

The trend might be more favorable to the EU this year as import demand from China for dairy products improved in January, said Hogan, resulting in a total increase of EU dairy exports by 11 percent.

China and other Asian markets are also seen as potential markets "for high quality European agricultural products due to the changing dietary habits as disposable incomes increase," added Hogan. Endit