China’s premier pledges deeper cooperation as Irish PM pushes on beef and dairy

By Liz Lee and Shi Bu

BEIJING, Jan 6 (Reuters) – China wants to deepen cooperation with Ireland and broaden trade in sectors including aircraft leasing and healthcare, according to a Chinese state media readout on Tuesday following Premier Li Qiang’s meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, who is in Beijing to push for agriculture talks.

Martin’s meeting with Li came a day after his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, part of a five-day visit that the Irish leader said would have “a significant economic dimension” including talks on beef and dairy.

The visit reflects Beijing’s bid to strengthen ties with individual European nations amid strained China-EU relations.

Tuesday’s Chinese readout also listed green energy and artificial intelligence as areas for enhanced cooperation but made no mention of beef or dairy.

Li described the two economies as “highly complementary” and called for upholding multilateralism and free trade, according to state broadcaster CCTV late Tuesday.

In a clip posted earlier on Martin’s X account, the prime minister said he pressed Chinese officials for the reopening of the Chinese market to Irish beef products, and raised issues related to China’s new dairy tariffs.

Martin, however, left out any mention of agriculture when posting on X a photo of him with the Chinese premier hours after the meeting.

“Constructive engagement on a range of issues including trade, our bilateral relationship and cooperation on areas such as renewables and research,” Martin said in a caption of the photo.

China-EU ties have been tense since the EU imposed levies on Chinese EV imports in 2024, prompting Chinese retaliation including tariffs on EU dairy products.

“Ireland will always be constructive on trading matters. We’ve always been in the school within the European Union that has favoured open trade,” Martin said on Irish radio.

BEEF EXPORTS 

Ireland exports the bulk of its output from its beef and dairy industries, which are major employers in the country. It is among Europe’s largest exporters of dairy, shipping about 6 billion euros ($7.04 billion) annually.

Irish beef exports to China have been suspended since 2024 after a mad cow disease case.

On a visit to China in November, Junior Minister for Agriculture Timmy Dooley said Dublin was making progress in persuading Beijing that Irish beef was safe but that there was “a way to go” to clear the resumption of exports.

Irish beef, which the country markets as a premium commodity in the UK and Europe, also faces competition from cheaper South American imports.

Last week, China also set import quotas and extra tariffs on beef imports from this year, hitting global suppliers.

Martin, the first Taoiseach to visit China since 2012, has recently downplayed Irish intelligence warnings portraying China as a “hostile state actor”, preferring instead to adopt a long-term and strategic understanding of China.

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(Reporting by Liz Lee and Shi Bu in Beijing, Padraic Halpin and Conor Humphries in Dublin; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Ros Russell and Stephen Coates)