Beijing - Chicken is back on the menu in Hong Kong, ending a six-week ban ordered after a deadly bird flu swept through the former British colony.
The meager supply of 38,000 live birds shipped from southern China failed to meet overwhelming demand as customers packed local markets Sunday for a taste of the once-forbidden meat.
The shortage pushed retail prices up 30 percent to about $50 ($6.40 U.S.) per kilogram and put pressure on Chinese exporters to boost sales to Hong Kong.
But Hong Kong's Secretary for Health and Welfare Katherine Fok said the cross-border chicken trade will "rise gradually" amid fears the imports may spark a second outbreak of the deadly bird flu.
China suspended poultry exports to Hong Kong on Dec. 24, 1997 after the H5N1 avian flu virus began claiming human lives.
The export ban was part of an orchestrated attempt to wipe out the disease in Hong Kong and determine whether the mysterious flu had spread from the mainland.
The efforts also included the slaughter of the territory's 1.4 million chickens and a thorough disinfection of outdoor poultry markets.
Prior to the breakout of the bird flu, exporters in China's southern Guangdong ("Kwang-tung") province shipped more than 100,000 live chickens to Hong Kong each day, feeding nearly 80 percent of local demand.
The ban had a serious impact on the Guangdong economy and exporters are anxious to return to full production.
Fok told reporters the government will continue to demand high standards of cleanliness at markets and retail outlets to ensure the imports are healthy and virus-free.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
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