Russia said on Thursday that it had sent 27 tonnes of pork to China, the first exports of the meat there since Beijing imposed a ban on Russian pork nearly 15 years ago due to African Swine Fever, reported Reuters.

Russia's veterinary and phytosanitary service, known as Rosselkhoznadzor, said it had been trying to open up the Chinese market to Russian pork for some years and the shipment followed the lifting of the ban last year.

"On March 7, the Rosselkhoznadzor monitored the shipment of the first batch of Russian-made pork to China with a volume of 27 tonnes," it said.

"In September 2023, the Chinese side lifted restrictions relating to African Swine Fever which had been in force against Russia since 2008."

China is the world's top importer of meat and also the top producer of pork. The biggest sellers of pork and offal to China are Brazil, Spain, Canada, the United States, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Russia has transformed its pork market: two decades ago it was fully dependent on imports but is now fully self sufficient and exported about 255,000 tonnes of pork last year, a 66% rise on the year before, according to the agriculture ministry.

Russia wants to grab about 5% of the Chinese pork import market, according to the Russian National Union of Pig Breeders.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in January it was revising down its forecast for global pork production for 2024 by 1% to 114.2 million tons on lower output in China, the EU, and Brazil.

"Global pork exports for 2024 are lowered 2 percent from the October forecast to 10.2 million tons as the EU, United States, and Brazil increasingly compete for lower China imports," the USDA said in January.

Russia has pivoted to China after the war in Ukraine triggered the biggest crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Trade between Russia and China - little affected by Western sanctions imposed on Moscow - has soared in recent year, hitting a record of $240 billion last year.