UK looks to benefit from China's desire to upgrade its pig stocks

The United Kingdom will send its largest shipment of pig semen to China this month, as the latter looks to improve the genetics of its domestic herd.

Dozens of major pig farmers in China will look to strengthen their stock using semen from pigs bred at the Deerpark Pedigree Pigs artificial insemination facility in Northern Ireland.

The order, for 2,000 samples, is worth 200,000 pounds ($271,000) and is the largest since the UK won the right to export pig semen to China during a trade mission in 2013 led by then-prime minister David Cameron.