China has launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of Brazilian broiler chicken and products after a complaint from the domestic industry that Brazil has been selling the meat below market value. Brazil accounted for more than 50% of broiler product supplies to China, the world’s second largest poultry consumer, between 2013 and 2016. Brazil accounted for 85% of China’s frozen chicken imports last year, which totaled almost 600,000 tons, valued at as much as USD1.23 billion. Any move to penalize imports worth more than USD1 billion a year would be a major blow to Brazil’s meat industry following a scandal over its beef exports earlier in the year. Brazil replaced the United States as the top supplier of chicken after China slapped anti-dumping duties on U.S. broiler chicken products in 2010. China relies on imports for its supply of white feather broiler chickens, which are favored by fast-food chains like KFC and McDonald’s for their more rapid development and plumper meat, compared with yellow-feathered birds, which are native to China and generally sold retail. The investigation comes just months after Beijing slapped hefty penalties on sugar imports from top growers such as Brazil and Thailand after lobbying by domestic mills, the South China Morning Post reports.