French farmers are hoping China's reopening after it lifted many of its COVID-19 measures will also unlock more trade in pork and beef exports.

"Exporting to China is crucial for us," Francois Valy, president of the country's pork federation, the FNP, tells CGTN Europe. "Otherwise we have trade with Europe, but it is a trade and not an export."

Valy was speaking as one of the world's largest agricultural shows, the Paris International Agricultural Show, got underway, with thousands of exhibitors and hundreds of thousands of visitors expected to come through the doors of the Paris expo Porte de Versailles this week.

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China, the world's biggest importer of pork, had been due to publish audits of French pork facilities carried out in 2015, which would clear them to enter Chinese markets.  It's hoped these long awaited inspections could hold the key to boosting trade at a time when the appetite for pork and beef products is on the rise. 

According to the national pork association, France exported 130,000 tonnes to China in 2022. Some estimates put the trade at $45 million per quarter. The approval of pork producers is a key concern for French agriculture officials, and has been discussed at the highest official levels. 

It's been even more pressing in recent years as China's domestic pork production has been hit by outbreaks of African Swine Fever. Valy is hopeful trade with China can boost an industry which like others around the world is suffering the effects of high inflation, an ageing workforce and a lack of younger people coming into the industry. 

He says Chinese importers are interested in parts of the pig that others are not. 

"They ask for ears for example. When you put pig ears in a French restaurant, I think everyone will look at them but nobody will eat them," he tells CGTN Europe. 

"In China, everybody is chasing the pigs' ears, they love it. These are cultural differences, but we need them. They allow us to sell more pieces of the animal, instead of throwing it away."

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