A cowboy walks near his Hereford cattle in Baje, a small town in the southern Brazil. PHOTO/SONG WEIWEI

Brazilian Agriculture Minister Katia Abreu said that Brazilian beef will have a large potential market in China following the lifting of an embargo.

Abreu said that eight Brazilian beef providers received clearance to export, and about 2,000 tons of fresh beef are being shipped to China.

Beef exports to China are expected to increase to at least $700 million in 2015 from $37 million in 2012, according to the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry,

China suspended Brazilian beef imports in December 2012 after a cow tested positive for mad-cow disease. Premier Li Keqiang announced in May that China will resume beef imports from Brazil.

Brazil is the third-largest meat producer and the largest exporter in the world. It sells to markets in the European Union, the United States, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Africa. In 2014 Brazil exported 160 tons of beef for a value of $7.2 billion.

In June, a Brazilian trade mission, including representatives from Brazil's main meat producing organizations and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brazil), visited Shanghai and Beijing to promote beef exports to China.

Ana Paula Repezza, manager of Apex-Brazil's International Business Facilitation, said in an interview with China Daily that the visit was aimed at regaining Chinese consumers' trust in Brazilian beef.

"We hope we can get back into the market and show the Chinese consumer all health requirements have been met and Brazilian meat is a distinguished high quality product. Our livestock is not raised on hormones, and its production is almost organic," she said.

Hormones and chemicals are not used for livestock used for Brazilian meat. This allows the meat to have specific characteristics and to be known as "green cattle''. With a few rare exceptions, the animals are not kept in confinement, which causes stress and leads to a loss in meat quality, said Repezza.

"We want to show the quality of our products because we know the Chinese have a high level of meat consumption with the highest quality and with sustainability requirements. Brazilian meat is one of the most highly valued in the world," she said.

Repezza said Brazil will organize meetings with Chinese meat consumers and buyers associations to ``re-establish this bond of trust and introduce Brazil as an alternative meat provider for the Chinese market''.

According to the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry, beef exports to China are expected to increase from $37 million in 2012 to at least $700 million in 2015.

"We will organize a series of meetings with Chinese meat consumers and buyers associations straight away to re-establish this bond of trust and introduce Brazil as an alternative meat provider for the Chinese market," said Repezza.