SHANGHAI: Purveyors of provolone, traders in tequila, sellers of salami: As tariffs on imported foods fade, gourmet food merchants are flocking to China's vast market.

Different countries can find common ground in the love of good food, said European Union farm commissioner Franz Fischler, as he opened a food industry fair last Tuesday that drew hundreds of foreign companies.

Many were newcomers hoping China's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) will bring fresh opportunities for urban China's increasingly sophisticated stomachs.

"The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a new star," Fischler quipped, borrowing from the 19th-century French food critic Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.

Decades of doing business in free ports such as Hong Kong and Singapore, and in wealthy Japan, have whetted the appetite of the world's food and beverage exporters for business in the world's most-populous nation.

"China is a sort of blank spot for us. It's kind of annoying," said Evelin Sala, export manager for German company E.B.M. Euro-Bavaria, which exports cheeses and other dairy products.

The firm, however, exports its products to just one Shanghai-based foreign supermarket chain.

"We've been selling to Japan for 30 years, but Chinese still have to get used to eating cheese," Sala said.

Chinese restaurants have become fixtures in all but the tiniest towns in Europe and the United States, and McDonald's and KFC are now household names even in smaller Chinese cities.

But finer foreign delicacies are scarce in China, outside the few grocery stores and restaurants catering to foreigners.

That's due to trade barriers such as import taxes and limits on the purchasing power and adventurousness of a nation with its own proud culinary heritage.

Still, plate loads of Sala's ham- and paprika-studded cheese chunks were vanishing before her, devoured by a hungry pre-lunch crowd.

Cheese might not appeal to all Chinese, but it might be sneaking into local tastes in the guise of cheeseburgers and pizza.

"That kind of red cheese, the one that tastes moldy, that's not much to my liking," said Gao Lizhong, a trading company employee who sampled a few chunks.

"This is mild. It's fine."

As part of its market-opening pledges to gain WTO entry, average taxes on many food imports to China have fallen from more than 30 per cent to just over 10 per cent.

"Give me one reason why we should not be here," said Teodoro Rittscher Rendon, a sales executive for Iidea, a tequila company based in Tlaquepaque, Mexico. He's seeking a local distributor.

"Japan is a small market for us," he said. "China as a region is very important."

Makers of provolone, salami and champagne might base their brands on centuries-old identities, but companies that are less tradition-bound are eager to adapt their products to local tastes.

Olives can be marketed the old-fashioned way (pickled with pimentos), or can be livened up with pepper seeds or fortified with nutrient-rich soya or Omega-3, said Daniel Paya, export manager for Spanish olive processor El Serpis.

"We are always looking to introduce new novelties," he said.

"These sweet vinegars were a big hit in Tokyo," said Martin Bem, Asia-Pacific representative for Italian company Collina Toscana, as he pointed to golden and burgundy-coloured bottles of balsamic lemon and fruited vinegars.

"Chinese do not like them because they say they're too sweet, but they seem to really like the spicy ones," he said, turning a bottle to show its chili-laden contents.

"A major reason to be here is to get a little understanding of the taste buds of China."

Agencies via Xinhua