The chairman of meat exporter ANZCO Foods took a swipe at official figures which suggest China is the fifth biggest importer of beef.
Sir Graeme Harrison told a summit on doing business in China that in fact China is actually the biggest importer of meat in the world.
He says the official figures on China's beef imports just don't add up.
Sir Graeme says if you add in US figures and factor in "grey" import channels through countries like Vietnam and Hong Kong the picture is different.
"My assessment is that China's beef imports for 2012, through grey channels, exceeded 700,000 tonnes contrary to the official figures China is today the world's largest meat importer."
Sir Graeme also described the process of getting meat plants approved for export to China as tortuous.
