MONTEVIDEO, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- In 2016, China was once again the main purchaser of Uruguayan beef, having purchased 188,411 tons of the meat, a 15.8 percent rise over 2015, according to data from the National Institute of Meats.

In 2016, Uruguay gained 624 million U.S. dollars from its exports of beef to China, which has long been a reliable source of revenue for the country, as published by local daily El Pais on Saturday.

The NAFTA bloc which groups the United States, Canada and Mexico was the collective second market for beef, having bought 99,902 tons, a 9.2 percent rise, with the U.S. alone claiming 69,837 tons.

In third place, the European Union bought 54,616 tons, a large 16 percent rise, the data showed.

The South American country made a total of 1.474 billion U.S. dollars from beef exports around the world in 2016, the data revealed.