Minister Ordeig launches the campaign promoting Catalan cured meats and wines in China

The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, Òscar Ordeig, has opened a professional tasting session in Beijing marking the start of the rollout in China of the European campaign The Creative Revolution: European Wines and Charcuterie (CREWAS).

The event presented a selection of Catalan wines with designation of origin and a representative sample of Catalan cured meats and charcuterie products to importers, distributors, Horeca professionals, opinion leaders and specialist media. The aim is to strengthen their position in a strategic market and generate new business opportunities for companies in the sector.

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Minister Ordeig stressed that «thanks to this European Union funding we will run an intensive campaign aimed at importers and distributors which, besides China, will also be rolled out in Japan and Korea. An initiative that will allow us to showcase the values of the Mediterranean diet and the origin and production of gourmet products of high quality and high added value that represent Catalan agri-food excellence».

Led by Prodeca and co-financed by the European Union with a budget of close to 3 million euros, the initiative will run from October 2026 to October 2029.

The campaign aims to position Catalan wines with designation of origin and Catalan cured meats and charcuterie products as benchmarks for quality, authenticity, innovation and sustainability, while helping to open up new commercial opportunities for Catalan companies in high-potential markets.

The event forms part of the institutional trip the Minister is currently making to China, a mission combining the promotion of Catalan agri-food products with institutional meetings and activities aimed at strengthening cooperation in agri-food research and innovation.

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Following up the trade agreement with Hainan

The institutional visit also served to deepen relations with the province of Hainan, with which Catalonia has a memorandum of understanding signed by the Minister for the European Union and Foreign Action, Jaume Duch.

In this context, the meeting with the Hainan authorities made it possible to follow up on the commitments made and explore new opportunities for collaboration to facilitate access and consolidate the presence of Catalan agri-food products in the Chinese market.

Highlights included the visit to the Haikou Integrated Free Trade Zone, one of the main logistics and trade platforms in southern China. Its strategic location and connection to major international shipping routes make it a point of interest for future commercial operations.

As part of the trip, the Minister will also meet representatives of the Catalan brewer Damm and visit the e-commerce platform JD.com to explore new ways of promoting and marketing Catalan agri-food products in the Chinese market.

Strengthening institutional and scientific cooperation

The trip also included several meetings with authorities and institutions in Hainan and Beijing to strengthen cooperation between Catalonia and China in the agri-food, trade and research fields. In Hainan, the Minister met representatives of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the province's Vice-Governor, Li Feng, to discuss new avenues of collaboration and further deepen institutional relations. On the scientific side, the Catalan delegation visited the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, where possible lines of cooperation with IRTA on research, innovation and knowledge transfer were explored.

In Beijing, the delegation also held meetings with the China Agricultural Wholesale Markets Association (CAWA), representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China and officials from the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau. The meetings served to strengthen institutional contacts, promote Catalan gastronomy and make progress in opening up new commercial opportunities for Catalan agri-food products.

All these activities form part of the Government of Catalonia's Asia Strategy 2025-2030, aimed at strengthening Catalonia's presence in Asia and consolidating relations with countries and regions considered strategic.

China, a key market for Catalan agri-food

China is one of the priority markets for the Catalan agri-food sector. At present, Catalan companies export products there worth more than 655 million euros a year, a figure that shows the growing weight of this market and the opportunities it offers.

In total, 312 Catalan agri-food companies currently export to China, 123 of them regularly. Between 2015 and 2025, Catalan agri-food exports to the Chinese market grew by 153.8%, while imports rose by 92.9%.

Meat and cured meats remain the main driver of this growth, with a trade surplus of close to 485 million euros. Fine Food products also performed well, as did vegetable oils and wine, which continue to show favourable results in the Chinese market.