Incident of the pig in China: Couillard enjoys her revenge

Photo from the archives, Stevens Leblanc
The prime minister Philippe Couillard

Patrick Bellerose

Tuesday, 23 January 2018 08:00

UPDATE
Tuesday, 23 January 2018 08:00

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BEIJING | Then that it had suffered a setback in diplomatic on this subject in 2014, the prime minister Philippe Couillard points out that the sales of Quebec pork in China will continue to increase.

Back in the Middle kingdom, Philippe Couillard seemed to enjoy a sweet revenge on critics of its first economic mission. “In 2014, we had chatted in the pork, remember. The pork, all this time we gossiped of it, it grew and it continued to increase afterwards,” he launched to journalists in a press briefing.

During his first spell in China, the prime minister had proposed to the governor of Shandong province to increase exports of pork from Quebec, to which the governor Guo Shuqing had replied that China was already a major producer of pork, particularly in the province of Shandong.

The governor said he was rather interested by beef and lamb.

Diplomatic Incident

The diplomatic incident, which occurred in front of journalists in quebec, had received many criticism from the prime minister. The specialist of the China-Loïc Tassé had stated, in particular, that the prime minister had lost face, in a country where “losing face is one of the most terrible things that could happen”.

“It is quite special, as the event is remembered Philippe Couillard, because he was in need of a lot of pork and, as he said it, it was full of pork from quebec. And he continued to get the pork in québec by the result, and it continues now.”

Sales up

Besides, the checks made, the sales of lamb and beef in China have not increased for 2014, stressed the prime minister. “This is the pork they want, especially”, he said.

In fact, China has surpassed the United States last year and became the main importer of pork from Quebec.

The type of meat being sought has also changed since 2014, says the Quebec representative in China, Jean-François Lépine. While the Chinese, in the past, were interested primarily in by-products of the animal, they are now interested by the pieces of meat quality.