China on Friday exported its first batch of cooked poultry meat to the European Union (EU) after the lifting of a six-year ban, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

Shandong Zhucheng Foreign Trade Co. Ltd. in the eastern province of Shandong shipped 60 tons of cooked chicken meat, or 10 percent of its export deal, from Qingdao to Antwerp, Belgium.

"The lifting of the ban shows Chinese poultry products are of good quality and this will help to restore consumer confidence in Chinese exports," said Huo Jianguo, head of the China Chamber of Commerce of Imports and Exports of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products.

Huo said he hoped the company will ensure product quality in promoting exports to the EU, especially as faltering external demand hits exports.

The EU lifted the ban in early September. But only nine companies, all in Shandong, won approval to export cooked poultry meat products to the EU.

The EU banned the imports of some animal-source products from China in January 2002, saying the products were contaminated by chloramphenicol, an antibiotic, and China's monitoring system for pesticide residue didn't meet its requirement.

In January 2004, it went on to ban all poultry meat imports, following the outbreak of bird flu in China.

Shandong exported 430 million US dollars worth of poultry meat last year, accounting for half of the national figure.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2008)