China getting ready for agri-products trade

400 million yuan of state treasury bonds will fund the information system and testing system of 119 agricultural products wholesale markets in China.

This was revealed at a conference by the State Development and Reform Commission recently. Last year another 400 million yuan of treasurey bonds was earmarked to 81 farm produces wholesale markets for their construction of the two systems.

The information systems creates a database of the quantity, prices and varieties of agri-products traded at the main wholesale markets around the country. It is accessible to Internet surfers.

As an important part of the country's support for agriculture, the two systems make sense in helping farmers adjust their production, reducing the circulation costs, bringing more income for farmers and guaranteeing the food safety.

Agriculture enjoys a bulk share in China's economy. It is given top priority in the consideration of policy making. The government has adopted an array of measures to relax the burden of farmers and increase their income. This year reports the recovery of grain production which experienced slide in the past four years. And the grain circulation system has also been overhauled.

Meanwhile, China's trade partners are eyeing the most populous country as one of the most promising market in the world for their agricultural products.

A trade official of US Agriculture Department said recently that China's large population getting richer represented great potential as a market for agricultural imports from around the world, which would mean significant opportunities for US.

US exports of farm produces to China have kept rising since 1999. The value reached about 6.3 billion USD in August,2004, against some 1 billion USD at the beginning of 1999. In the fiscal year from October, 2003 to the same month of this year, US delivery of agricultural, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry products to China soared 70 percent over the previous fiscal year.

Amid the enormous US deficit in its trade with China, US enjoys a surplus of 2.3 billion USD in its trade on agricultural and side-line products with China. Soy beans, cotton, furs and leather, wheat and timbers contribute most to the situation. And the boom of China's processing sector develops a better appetite for raw materials than for processed food.

China's accession into WTO is a milestone for the country's integration into the global trade system. But still the speed of the take-off and the pace of the opening-up of the market stunned them, said the US official.

She expressed her confidence on China's progress on regulating its market well, although there was still concern about the uncertainty of the emerging market which was mostly caused by protectionism.

By People's daily Online