China agrees to resume imports of some Brazilian beef from Thursday

China said on Thursday it had agreed to immediately resume imports of Brazilian beef aged under 30 months, according to a statement released by China's General Administration of Customs.

Sales of Brazilian beef to China were voluntarily halted by Brazilian authorities on Feb. 23, following the discovery of an atypical case of mad cow disease. The resumption of trade comes a day after Brazilian agriculture minister Carlos Favaro arrived in Beijing ahead of a visit by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday.

Lula will visit China accompanied by a delegation of 240 business representatives, including 90 from the agriculture sector. Brazil also aims to renegotiate sanitary protocols under which a single mad cow case triggers an export ban for the whole country. Beef producers in Brazil lose up to $25 million per day with the embargo in place.

Some 62% of Brazil's beef exports went to China last year.

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