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Alberta beef producers are rubbing their hands at the potential of $20 million in annual growth from a new trade deal with China.

The agreement will allow chilled and bone-in Canadian beef and pork to be exported to China for the first time.

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It’s a pilot project for now, but Dennis Laycraft, executive vice-president at the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, is confident it will prove successful and be expanded to all beef processing plants.

Announced as part of a swath of trade changes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrapped up his trade mission to China last week, the development was a long time coming.

It’s the offspring of a 2010 deal, which provided access by the Chinese to Canadian beef for the first time. That agreement was restricted to boneless, frozen products.

Laycraft said in an interview the beef sector expected a rapid, staged opening to the Chinese market. He’s a little disappointed it took so long, but that’s tempered by what the development means for the industry.