From footballer to importer of Uruguayan beef

León Li first discovered Uruguayan beef as a young man when he played football in Uruguay. He came from China and joined Danubio in 2004, where he was teammates with a young Edinson Cavani, among others. At that time, Li fell in love with Uruguayan beef, which he now considers “the best in the world.” Today, he imports it into China and sells it at a boutique meat shop in the city of Chengdu.

“I lived in Uruguay over 20 years ago and now I’ve returned to my hometown to share the best experience and the best meat product with Chinese communities.” When Li arrived in Uruguay, he was very thin and started eating beef “every day, like medicine—it helped me a lot,” he said.

Li operates in the southwest-central region of China, in a city called Chengdu, which is globally known as “the city of pandas.” The province has a population of 130 million people.

The importer considers himself “a collaborator of INAC, promoting the culture of Uruguayan beef” in China. His company has several retail outlets in Chengdu and other regions. The goal over the next two years is to reach one thousand themed boutique butcher shops.

Li is part of an organization made up of three groups, managing a volume of around 100 containers per month (not exclusively Uruguayan beef). Li’s focus is on the segment that reaches the final consumer, and exclusively with Uruguayan beef.