The annual volume of the beef Brazil exports to mainland China grew by 53.2 percent to 494,000 tonnes last year, and the annual value rose by 80 percent to US$2.67 billion, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency, citing figures given by the Brazilian association of meat exporters, Abiec, says mainland China again bought more Brazilian beef last year than any other foreign territory, followed by Hong Kong, Egypt, Chile, the European Union, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Russia.

The report says Brazil exported 1.84 million tonnes of beef around the world last year, 12.4 percent more than the year before and the most in any year yet, and that those exports were worth US$7.59 billion, 15.5 percent more than the year before and another record annual sum.

The increases were due to a surge in demand from China, which would reinforce its position as the major foreign market for Brazilian beef, Xinhua quotes the head of Abiec, Antônio Camardelli, as saying.