With all the focus on Greece in recent weeks, on the other side of the world, more than 30% has been knocked off the value of Chinese shares since the middle of June.

While the consequences for Irish agriculture are unknown, they could be twofold. Firstly, China has been called out as a market opportunity for Irish dairy and beef exports. But more significantly, for the world’s second largest economy with 20% of the world’s population, if China sneezes, the rest of the world is likely to catch a cold.

While the current negative downward spiral in dairy commodity prices is a result of increased supply across the world, there is also slowing demand in China. Over 30% of New Zealand dairy exports are shipped to China, so any changes in the Chinese market have a significant impact on New Zealand and, therefore, global dairy prices.

Last week, the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction fell a further 5.9% – its eight consecutive decline.

About 5% of our €10bn food and beverage exports are destined for China and this has trebled since 2010. China is now Ireland’s second most important export market for dairy and amounts to €268m (2013).