Thirty-six-year-old Tian Hongshui was looking forward to a better life as his strawberry sales continued to rise. But now a bright future is slipping away.

"It's over. The strawberries will rot in the field." Standing in front of the greenhouse, the fruit farmer in China's northeast Heilongjiang Province looked worried and helpless.

Tian's life was changed by an announcement made by the Commission of the European Union, which said it would conduct anti- dumping investigations into China's frozen strawberry exports to Europe.

The investigation, with reference to the product cost in the United States, is likely to result in a highly punitive tariff being imposed on the Chinese strawberry, which will force it out of the European market.

Having grown strawberries for seven years, Tian's savings enabled him to buy a Philips TV last year. His net income in 2005 was around 10,000 yuan (about 1,234 US dollars).

"The Europeans always complain that we do not buy their goods. But how can we afford to if we don't have the money?" Tian asked.

Experts believe that China's huge market capacity lies in its vast rural population. But the belief remains theoretical if the farmers remain poor.

To expand its domestic market, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in his government work report at the on-going session of the Tenth National People's Congress (NPC) that one of government focuses in the coming year was to increase farmers' income and consumption capacity.

"Such efforts indicate great business opportunities for both domestic and foreign companies," said Zhang Xuming, a member of the National Committee Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

But Zhang pointed out that the trade barriers targeted at the Chinese agricultural products prevent farmers' benefits in international trade.

"Such biased actions not only violate the principles of the World Trade Organization but also harm the Chinese and European economy," Zhang said.

It is estimated that 90 percent of China's export-oriented agricultural products were affected by trade protection of foreign countries, involving billions of US dollars.

The increasing foreign trade protection sets a sharp contrast with China's efforts to open up its agricultural market.

China is one of the countries with the lowest agricultural tariffs in the world. Its tariff for imported agricultural products has been lowered to 15 percent, far below the 62 percent world average. In 2004, China, for the first time, became a net importing country of agricultural products with a 4.6 billion US dollar trade deficit.

Source: Xinhua