BEIJING, Aug. 3 -- China's chicken exports are expected to rise to 450,000 tonnes this year, according to the China Animal Agriculture Association on Sunday.

Gong Guifen, deputy secretary-general of the association's poultry branch, said exports reached 52 countries and regions thanks to high quality and low cost, with Japan buying about half of them last year.

China shipped abroad 430,600 tonnes of chicken in 2013, up about 2 percent year on year.

Among the exports, cooked and prepared chicken products stood at 266,900 tonnes, accounting for 62 percent. Frozen chicken totaled 99,900 tonnes, taking up 23 percent.