Quotable

This is a new opportunity for China and Russia to boost bilateral economic and trade relations. As long as China can ensure the quality of meat products, we will see long-term cooperation."

Kitaev Pavel, vice-president of the Meat Processors Association of the Far East, said Russia's recent restrictions on food imports from the West mean that its demand for meat from China will soar. Meat processing enterprises in far eastern Russia alone need nearly 100,000 metric tons of meat each year, providing a huge market for their Chinese counterparts, Pavel said at a purchasing fair in Suifenhe, Heilongjiang province. The two countries will develop logistics, transportation and storage partnerships, he said during the four-day event, which closed on Monday.