China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) on February 14 announced it would lift restrictions on imports of live poultry from the United States.

This announcement now means China has approved all poultry products from the U.S., including breeding birds and live poultry.

The announcement comes on the same day the Phase One deal between the U.S. and China officially takes effect and exactly three months after China announced it was lifting its four-year ban on frozen U.S. chicken meat imports. Prior to that ban, the annual value of U.S. chicken exports to China was $722 million.

China announced two outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Hunan and Sichuan provinces in just the first 10 days of February, is facing a historic shortage of meat products due to African Swine Fever, and has made substantial purchase commitments to the U.S. regarding agricultural products under the Phase One deal signed in November 2019.