The company was represented by Carlos Gaspar Pontítero, Litera Meat's director of Quality, Food Safety and Environment, who attended as a guest of Yao Jing, ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Spain.
The reception brought together representatives of Spanish institutions, the diplomatic corps and the business, academic and cultural sectors, serving as a meeting point with China's diplomatic community in Spain.
Spanish officials in attendance included Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Luis Planas; Minister of Equality Ana Redondo; Second Vice-President of the Senate Concepción Andreu; Government Delegate in the Community of Madrid Francisco Martín; and Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Universities Juan Cruz Cigudosa.
During his address, Ambassador Yao Jing highlighted the positive state of relations between Spain and China and both countries' willingness to continue deepening their ties.
Luis Planas and Carlos Gaspar had the opportunity to exchange views
For his part, Luis Planas underscored the importance of trade between the two countries, particularly in the agri-food sector, as well as Spain's significant role in European pork exports to the Chinese market.
MEETING WITH THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
As part of the reception, Carlos Gaspar had the opportunity to exchange views with the Minister of Agriculture on various issues affecting both Litera Meat and the Spanish pork sector as a whole in its relations with China.
These included the recent anti-dumping investigation conducted by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) into imports of pork from the European Union. Litera Meat stood out in this proceeding for its cooperation and transparency during the investigation, the outcome of which placed the company among the Spanish businesses subject to the lowest applicable tariffs.
The conversation also addressed the arrival at Litera Meat of more than 170 workers of Chinese origin through a recruitment channel in their country of origin. This process remains open, and the company expects to hire around 50 additional workers from China in the near future.
Another issue discussed was the situation of Spain's pork sector in response to the outbreak of African swine fever and its consequences for the value chain and exports, both to China and to other international markets.
Litera Meat's presence at the reception represents a new opportunity to deepen institutional and business relations with China, a market of particular importance to Spain's pork sector.
The meeting also highlighted growing economic and trade cooperation between Spain and China, against a backdrop of strengthened bilateral relations and recent institutional contacts between the two countries.
