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British Secretary for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove estimated the opening of UK beef exports to China to be worth £250 million in its first five years alone.
“This is fantastic news for our world-class food and farming industry and shows we can be a truly outward-looking Britain outside the European Union," Secretary Gove said in a statement.
"It is the result of painstaking and collaborative work by industry and the Defra team over many years."
Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs described the announcement as "a further boost to our local NI beef industry".
Great news from China – a further boost for our local NI beef industry. @AFBI_NI @FSAinNI https://t.co/UhFFcxfiRE
— DAERA (@daera_ni) June 27, 2018
China lifted a similar ban on beef from the Republic of Ireland in 2015. Further inspections and approvals meant the first Irish factories were approved for export to China only last April. More followed this month.
DEFRA now estimates that similar market access negotiations between the UK and China will take another three years.
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