The Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Ms. Mette Gjerskov, arrived in Beijing on Sunday 25th November. She stayed in Beijing until Tuesday 27th November, and the visit focused on promoting Danish food safety and quality as well as organic foods in order to gain more cooperation with China in the area.
Gjerskov was accompanied by a business delegation with representatives from the Danish Agriculture and Food Council (DAFC); the Danish Bacon and Meat Council (DBMC), Brussels and the Danish Livestock and Meat Board (DLMB), Brussels as well as the seven Danish companies Arla Foods, Danish Crown, Foss, Lantmännen Danpo, Rose Poultry, Tican Fresh Meat and Tulip Food Company.
On her first day of the visit, Minister Gjerskov visited the Xinchunxiu Road Vegetable Market, which is a traditional Chinese fresh food market. At the market Minister Gjerskov was shown around by the embassy staff.
Sino-Danish food knowledge cooperation
The Minister on Monday, November 26, opened China-Denmark Milk technology and Cooperation Centre. The centre aims to promote knowledge and practices from the Danish dairy sector to the Chinese dairy industry. In this way the Chinese industry can ensure that they can comply with international and European standards for dairy production.
“New investments in production and a strong focus on quality and safety – driven by establishing the new milk technology centre – have a lot of potential for developing and expanding the market for dairy products. I have no doubt that this much closer cooperation between two market leaders is of real mutual benefit – and I am happy the Chinese and Danish governments are showing their support,” said Gjerskov at the opening event.
The centre will act as a platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing between companies, authorities, organisations, and scientific institutions on dairy related issues.
Bilateral meetings
On Monday, Minister Gjerskov also had bilateral meetings with the Chinese Minister Zhi Shuping from AQSIQ (Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine) and the Chinese Minister of Agriculture, Han Changfu.
Seminar and work shops
On Monday afternoon, the Minister participated in the seminar ‘Organic Food and Sustainable Production’ at the Danish embassy in Beijing, a seminar where key players in the agriculture industry shared their experiences with organic food. Besides the business delegation from Denmark, representatives from CNCA (Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People’s Republic of China) and China Green Food Development Centre also participated in the seminar.
On Tuesday, Nov 27, the Gjerskov first opened the Chinese-Danish workshop on dairy production and control followed by the opening of the Chinese-Danish roundtable with AQSIQ on poultry health.