Beef imports expected to rise

The average annual growth of China's beef imports will hit 15 to 20 percent in the next five years, due to supply bottlenecks and growing domestic demand, according to a report released by the Netherlands' Rabobank on Wednesday.

"Imported beef, including those by means of smuggling, accounted for 15 percent of the total beef supply in the Chinese market in 2013, and the percentage is likely to jump to 25 percent to 1.7 million tons by 2018," Pan Chenjun, a senior analyst at Rabobank, told the Global Times.

Pan said a growing number of Chinese people will shift to beef from poultry meat and pork as their living standards further rise, but Chinese beef production is capped by less-efficient operation and lack of government subsidies.