CHANGSHA -- A shipment of mutton from Madagascar was cleared at Changsha Customs in Central China's Hunan province on Sunday, marking China's first mutton imports from Africa and an important breakthrough in China-Africa meat trade.

Customs officials conducted an on-site inspection of the frozen mutton shipment, weighing 1,000 kg in total.

The mutton was shipped by air from Madagascar to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in the capital of South China's Guangdong province and then transported by road to Changsha, with the entire delivery time taking approximately 36 hours.

The Madagascar mutton will be sold in various restaurants and supermarkets across Hunan, a leading Chinese province in economic and trade relations with Africa, and a pioneer in China-Africa cooperation.

According to the customs department, the meat was produced by a Madagascar-based animal husbandry company, established with investment from Hunan's Yuan's High-tech Seed Co Ltd. The company is also a key exporter of China's hybrid rice seeds to Africa.

Yuan Ding'an, chairman of the company, told Xinhua that Madagascan mutton has both quality and price advantages in the Chinese market. The company aims to export 20,000 tons of mutton annually from Madagascar to China within three to five years.

The animal husbandry company in Madagascar has established an industrial chain of sheep breeding and mutton processing, and is actively promoting the development of new tropical forage varieties, Yuan said.

China signed an agreement with Madagascar to allow the mutton trade during the third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in Changsha last year.

Consequently, Changsha Customs formed a task force to guide Madagascan meat producers on quality management and official procedures.

In the first seven months of this year, Hunan imported African agricultural products valued at approximately 240 million yuan (about $33.9 million), up 10.6 percent year-on-year.

In addition to Madagascan mutton, Changsha Customs has facilitated the issuance of market access certificates for 24 batches of African food exports to China. These include wild aquatic products from Kenya and Tanzania, cashews from Guinea-Bissau, dried chili peppers from Rwanda, and dried anchovies from Kenya.