At the ongoing China Agricultural Trade Fair, the medlar juice
with the "green food" label has received 1 million yuan
(US$120,773) worth of orders for the Ningxia Xixiawang Wine Group
Corporation.??
Xixiawang in northwest China's Ningxia
Hui Autonomous Region was not the sole green food producer who
enjoys a rosy market. Since it opened in Beijing Tuesday, more than
40 contracts worth 4 billion yuan (US$483 million) have been signed
at the fair. Most of the projects involved sales and processing of
green food.
Experts participating in the week-long fair agreed that China's
relatively young "green food" industry is enjoying a flourishing
market.
Statistics show that by the first half of this year, China had
1,929 companies using "green food" labels, producing 25 million
tons of green food annually.
The rapid growth of China's national economy and per capita
income have triggered changes in market demand, and more people
care about their nutrition and health and prefer green food for its
production that does not involve pollutants and faces strict
quality control.
To promote the development of the sector, China has formulated a
series of laws and regulations and established a nationwide network
to monitor the environment of the production bases, production
process and quality, packaging, storage and transportation of
products.
Many major agricultural producers in the country consider the
green food industry their backbone. Heilongjiang
is one of them. In a blueprint worked out recently, the
northeastern province listed the building of a green food base one
of its six major bases and planned to adopt preferential policies
in taxation, financing and land use in this respect.
Heilongjiang leads the country in the varieties, output and
market share of green food.
Markets are the best driving force for the development of the
industry. Ever-increasing prices and the welcome from consumers
have ignited the enthusiasm for green food firms.
In the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the "hometown of medlar,"
the launch of the "pollution-free food action" this year brought
the prices of medlar to 13 to 14 yuan per kilogram, two to three
yuan higher than the previous year.
"Though Ningxia is still lagging behind in green food
production, we have advantages in natural environment, such as
well-protected air, water and land," said Guan Jinyue, director in
charge of green food industry at the regional level. "We could
catch up some day."
(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2003)