By Daphne Zhang, Lewis Jackson and Ella Cao
BEIJING, May 14 (Reuters) - China has renewed export licences for hundreds of U.S. beef processing plants, customs data showed, in a possible goodwill gesture as the leaders of both countries met in Beijing on Thursday.
More than 400 U.S. beef plants lost export eligibility over the past year as Beijing's permissions, granted between March 2020 and April 2021, lapsed without the customary renewal, accounting for roughly 65% of the once-registered facilities.
Agriculture has been expected to play a big part in any trade deal and the renewals are the first official pointer to likely elements of a final package shaping in talks between President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
"This shows China has released some goodwill gestures in areas that aren't too critical to U.S.-China trade relations," said Xu Hongzhi, a senior analyst at Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultants.
The step is likely to cheer U.S. beef producers told by the White House in recent weeks the issue would be raised during the summit.
Cargill CEO Brian Sikes is among the U.S. CEOs accompanying Trump. Plants owned by Cargill and Tyson Foods were included in the renewal.
A casualty of the trade war between Beijing and Washington, U.S. beef exports to China have fallen steadily to about $500 million last year from their peak of $1.7 billion in 2022.
Reuters could not immediately determine when the registrations were renewed.
(Reporting by Daphne Zhang, Ella Cao, and Lewis Jackson in Beijing; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Kate Mayberry and Clarence Fernandez)
