Bruce McLaughlin, a Director with Sinogie Consulting told Xinhua that Australia's strengthening position is directly correlated with China's reining in of the grey-market and the government's effective tightening of regulatory controls.

"We can't view these figures in isolation. China's crackdown on grey-market imports has meant that legitimate imports from Australia have replaced unofficial imports from places like Vietnam. But that's something that plays in Australia's favor. Because Australia has such a well-regulated agriculture industry, we're always going to benefit from tighter regulation in China and other export markets."

China opens up a welcome new front for Australian producers, who are now beginning to gaze beyond Asia toward the profitable North American beef markets.

While China is Australia's fourth largest export market the figures from Australian Bureau of Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) indicate that market could grow exponentially -- perhaps as much as tenfold on the back of last year's figures.

McLaughlin said that China reaching out to Australian agricultural markets was in the country's national interest, particularly at a time when food security was growing as an issue and calls for Australia's potential as a global "foodbowl" be fast- tracked.

"It's clear that, as Australian beef exports to China grow, Chinese companies should take greater control of the supply chain. There are great opportunities for investment in beef farming: I've been working on some excellent projects in Queensland. We're already seeing Chinese companies looking to move into the dairy and grain sectors in Australia; beef will probably be the next big wave of agricultural investment."

McRae said that China's contribution to global competition was good for everyone.

"We're looking at China to take more Australian product and what that does is gives an extra buyer in the market to put pressure on the bigger markets like Japan, the United States and South Korea," he said.

With the once voracious Japanese market continuing to slow, Australian exporters are ready to take new territory, however McLaughlin says the going will not be easy.

"While we're doing well with our beef exports to China, there' s still a great deal of room for improvement.

"Australia needs a coherent strategy to promote all Australian beef -- or all Australian agricultural products: we need to drive home the message that our food is some of the safest and highest- quality in the world," he told Xinhua.

Fresh is the main flavor	Chinese cuisine and the shift forwards