BEIJING: China has lifted its bans on imports of pork products from the United States, Canada and Mexico, its quarantine bureau said on Tuesday, but analysts said the move would not likely lead to a surge of new imports.
Earlier in the year, China banned imports from the three countries on worries of outbreaks of H1N1 flu.
The lifting of the ban had been expected earlier by officials in the United States, the largest pork exporter, which exported $560 million to China in 2008.
"The lift will not spur imports into the country," said Guo Huiyong, an analyst with Beijing Orient Agri-buiness Consultant Co Ltd.
China's pork imports this year have fallen partly because China, the world's biggest pork consumer, has increased its own production, driven by Beijing's subsidies over breeding sows.
Falling pork prices prompted Beijing to stockpile more than 120,000 tons of pork.
China's pork imports in the first 10 month were 110,000 tons, only one third of 373,000 tons for the whole last year, according to figures provided by Beijing Orient.