Three things you should know from the past week’s trade missions to China:

1 When the Irish and EU groups crossed paths in Shanghai, discussions were not all about selling their food to the Chinese. Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed took advantage of sitting with top European Commission officials at a business community dinner to lobby them against a Mercosur trade deal. Meanwhile, Commissioner Phil Hogan bumped into Agriculture Minister Luis Etchevery from beef-exporting Argentina at the SIAL food exhibition. It’s a small world.

2 With our beef just approved for export to China, I tried my Irish luck with all local meat buyers in sight. One of them unexpectedly asked me if we sold donkeys’ skins. Apparently they’re a top ingredient in traditional medicine and “very easy to sell in China”. Chicken feet are in high demand, too.

3 Proposed cuts to CAP funding after 2020 have led some commentators to ask whether European Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger was on the beer when drawing up his multi-annual financial framework. If he was, it had to be the one pictured above – displayed by a Chinese distributor showcasing food and drink from Günther’s native Germany.