The Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development  announced on Wednesday it has begun talks about exporting Portuguese-bred horses to six countries, including China.

The ministry issued a written statement saying Portugal and each of the countries must first agree on animal health standards that breeders must meet.

The Portuguese government has already reached agreement on exporting horses to Saudi Arabia after one year of negotiations.

Since coming into office in 2015 the government has opened 58 markets abroad to 227 sorts of Portuguese product, 55 of them vegetable and 172 of them animal, and has begun talks about opening up another 57 markets abroad to another 269 sorts of Portuguese product, the Ministry of Agriculture says.