KIEV - Ukraine has been approved to export sunflower meals and sugar beet pulp to China, State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection said in a statement on Monday.

According to the statement, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has approved seven Ukrainian companies for sunflower meals deliveries and two Ukrainian companies for sugar beet pulp supplies.

Sunflower meals and sugar beet pulp are widely used as valuable feed for farm animals, especially for beef cattle and chicken.

This year, China has allowed beef imports from Ukraine and increased the list of certified Ukrainian dairy suppliers from 18 to 27.

Ukraine also hopes to get a green light from China on fish products exports by the end of this year.

According to the Ukrainian statistics, between 2012 and 2016, the trade turnover in agriculture products between Ukraine and China had increased by fivefold to $1.03 billion.