Imported food more popular among Chinese: customs data

BEIJING - Chinese appetite for imported food has been growing fast as the increasingly wealthy population seek more exotic eating, new data showed on Thursday.

China's food imports saw an annualized growth of 17.4 percent through the 2010-2014 period, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

The imports came from 213 countries and regions. ASEAN, European Union, the United States, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, Russia, Australia, Argentina and the Republic of Korea were the top 10 exporters, accounting for 84.3 percent of the total trade.

In the period, China found substandard food from 112 countries and regions, including 1,692 batches in 2010, 1,857 batches in 2011, 2,499 batches in 2012, 2,164 batches in 2013 and 3,505 batches in 2014.

These dodgy products were mainly biscuits and cakes, beverages and grain products. Risk of microbial contamination, poor quality and substandard food additives were the major problems found.