China has removed restrictions on poultry imports from the United States, announced the General Administration of Customs and the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on Thursday.

The U.S. is the world's largest poultry producer and second largest exporter of poultry meat and a major egg producer, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

Chicken production in the U.S. last year stood at 19 million tons, with the country exporting 3.15 million tons. Chicken meat production in the United States makes up about 21 percent of the global production, surpassing Brazil and the European Union.

Chicken meat imports from the U.S. to China gradually declined since 2010, and all such imports were banned in January 2015 after the outbreak of avian flu.

Last week, the U.S. Federal Register carried a public notice saying that Washington confirms that China's poultry-product inspection system is similar to that of the U.S., paving the way for China to export poultry products to the U.S.

"Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending the Federal poultry products inspection regulations to add the People's Republic of China (PRC) as eligible to export to the United States poultry products from birds slaughtered in the PRC," according to the notice on the Federal Register's official website.