date:Feb 08, 2014
up around fivefold from 2010, and a big boost for a farm sector that has seen sluggish demand from traditional markets in Europe.
More protein
China is the world's largest sheepmeat producer with a flock estimated at nearly 140 million in 2011, but output has been declining as farmable land shrinks due to urbanisation. Lamb has traditionally been consumed mainly in China's northeast, but a growing urban middle class in expanding cities wants more protein and has broader tastes.
A Mintel surv