China's Ministry of Commerce will host a hearing on beef imports next week as part of its safeguard investigation.

On December 27, the Chinese government launched a safeguard investigation on beef imports. Safeguards investigations take into account imports from around the world, rather than singling out imports from specific countries, but given current trade flows for beef, the investigation may have a particular impact on Chinese trade with Brazil

The Australian government has announced that the remaining hurdles to selling Australian meat in China have now been lifted.

Australian government officials have announced that China's suspension of five meat processing establishments has been lifted with immediate effect, allowing additional Australian beef sales in China.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently announced that China will lift a two-decade long ban on Spanish beef, while calling for China and Spain to work together to provide a "fair, just and non-discriminatory" business environment.

An important source of the China-Australia trade tensions in recent years was Chinese restrictions on Australian beef exports. As China and Australia continue to address these trade tensions, China has now lifted some of its restrictions on Australian meat exporters.

Over the first half of September, China's customs agency made several announcements that will impact trade in beef and dairy products.