On Nov. 28, 2025, China has banned pork imports from Barcelona province after Spain detected its first case of African swine fever in three decades in two wild boar found dead in the area, a Chinese Customs document seen by Reuters showed. The outbreak of the virus, last recorded in Spain in 1994, coincides with Spanish efforts to court Beijing and gain market share in the pork sector and after China imposed tariffs on EU pork during an anti-dumping investigation.

A separate Customs database entry showed China has also suspended pork imports from plants in the affected area belonging to 12 companies, including major exporters Costa Food Meat and Matadero Frigorifico Avinyo. Spain is the European Union’s leading pork producer, accounting for roughly a quarter of the bloc’s output, ahead of Germany, with annual pork exports of about 3.5 billion euros ($4.05 billion).

Spanish pork lobby group Interporc said pork farms within a 20-kilometre (12.4-mile) radius of the location where the boar were found would face restrictions on operating and selling their products. There are 39 pig farms within that radius, according to the Agriculture Ministry.