China’s commerce ministry said on Wednesday the total quota for 2026 is 2.7 million tonnes, with Brazil assigned the highest portion of 41.1%, followed by Argentina with 19.0% and 12.1% for Uruguay.

The ministry allocated a quota of 205,000 tonnes for Australia and 164,000 tonnes for the US.

In 2024, China imported 1.34 million tonnes of beef from Brazil, 594,567 tonnes from Argentina, 216,050 tonnes from Australia, 243,662 tonnes from Uruguay, 150,514 tonnes from New Zealand, and 138,112 tonnes from the US.

China’s measures will take effect on Jan 1 for three years, with the total quota increasing every year, reaching 2.8 million tonnes in 2028.

China made the announcement on Wednesday following two extensions of its beef import probe initiated last December, which officials say does not target any particular country.

Last week, Chinese beef industry associations pressured the government to impose immediate safeguard measures by the year-end to stabilize market expectations and domestic breeders’ livelihoods, state media Global Times reported.

Since 2023, China’s beef breeding sector has incurred heavy losses due to various factors, including imports, prompting many breeders to slaughter breeding cattle to reduce expenses, Global Times quoted an industry official as saying.

China imported a record 2.87 million tonnes of beef in 2024. Imports in the January to November period dropped 0.3% year-on-year to 2.59 million tonnes.