(Yicai Global) Aug. 28 -- The price of American beef has seen it fail to make waves in China after the two countries penned an agreement allowing the product to be traded across their borders.

Domestic products in Beijing offer greater variety and cost less than their American counterparts. "There are fewer buyers because the price of US beef is too high," Securities Daily quoted a staff member at a supermarket as saying. "The imported beef is also frozen so doesn't taste as good as the fresh meat."

American beef costs around CNY116 (USD17.47) to CNY316 a kilogram in supermarkets, the report shows. The price can rise as high as CNY445 at online stores, far higher than beef imported from Australia or other countries.

Before 2003, the US was China's largest beef supplier, occupying two thirds of the import market. However, at the end of 2003, when mad cow disease was detected in American beef products, China banned imports from the country.