Chinese Leadership Team in U.S. to Discuss Enhanced Trade and Food Safety

A team of Chinese government officials, led by Ge Zhirong, Counselor of the State Council of China and former Vice Minister of China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), met at USMEF headquarters in Denver yesterday with a group representing the U.S. agriculture export sector to discuss the potential for increased trade between the two nations.

Ge Zhirong and Philip Seng discuss efforts to promote expanded trade between China and the United States

“We are here to enhance cooperation in promoting expansion of trade and food safety between China and the United States,” said Mr. Ge. “We want to encourage better communication, which will foster enhanced cooperation between our countries, and between USMEF and our organization in China.”

Commenting on the recent election of China’s new president, Xi Jinping, Mr. Ge said that AQSIQ’s responsibilities will not change with the change in leadership, and that China will continue to expand its focus on international trade – including with the United States – and looks to increase those economic ties and cooperative efforts over the coming five years.

On the topic of the recently announced plan to streamline China’s food safety supervision system, Mr. Ge noted that AQSIQ would continue to have responsibility for food safety supervision of both imported and exported foods. While this is a significant announcement within China, he added that the change would not have any impact on U.S. exporters of food products to China.

“This has been a valuable opportunity for the U.S. red meat export sector to meet with this Chinese delegation led by an individual of the importance of Ge Zhirong,” said Philip Seng, USMEF president and CEO. “As he explained, enhancing communication and understanding will go a long way toward building stronger ties between our nations so that we can resolve outstanding issues and encourage trade that benefits producers and consumers in China and the U.S. alike.”

The Chinese delegation met with a number of U.S. agriculture representatives at USMEF's Denver headquarters