SHANGHAI: Blue stilton may never replace stinky bean curd as one of the country's best-loved lunchtime snacks, but new European Union initiatives want Chinese to buy European to shore up its status as the world's leading exporter of food and beverages.

EU officials announced a series of measures yesterday in Shanghai to promote exports of European food and beverages as the bloc recognized China as a key future market.

With the aid of its "Tasty Europe" campaign and with trade talks in Brussels slated for next month, the EU has set a target of 15 percent growth in food exports to China over the next several years.