The capital of China’s southern Guangdong province has suspended imports of frozen meat, fish and seafood from coronavirus-hit countries, as Beijing intensifies scrutiny of refrigerated food as a possible carrier of the disease.
Guangzhou authorities on Sunday announced the temporary ban from virus hotspots, without naming specific countries, and ordered all workers who had come into contact with frozen goods to undergo RNA tests for Covid-19.
Guangdong is China’s most populous province with 113m residents and is an important manufacturing hub responsible for more than a 10th of the country’s economic growth. In the first half of 2020, Guangzhou, the provincial capital, imported more than $665m in frozen meat, fish and seafood.