Retailers race to be first with US beef

China's major e-commerce platforms are racing to be the first to put US beef under their online sales portfolio, with the arrival of the first commercial shipment of the meat and its products to China due over the weekend, marking the end of a 14-year import ban.

Womai.com, the online platform run by the country's largest food trader China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp, has stood out as the champion with its offering of 301 kilograms of ribeye since last Friday.

Limited to residents of Beijing only, mainly because of the small amount, the beef is priced at 38 yuan ($5.6) for 180 grams as a group purchase special, almost 50 percent higher than a similar deal for Australian beef with the same cut and size. More than 1,500 orders have been placed over the past five days.