The export turnover of China's agricultural products in 2003
increased on the figure for last year, thanks to standardized
production, said Li Zhonghai, director of the State Standardization
Commission.
Statistics show that the gross export turnover of China's
agricultural products in the first 10 months this year amounted to
US$16.5 billion, a year-on-year growth of 17 percent. The total
export turnover of 2003 would be over US$20 billion, said Li.
After its entry into World Trade Organization (WTO), China
promoted standardized agricultural production in all provinces and
autonomous regions, integrating international standards into
domestic agriculture, Li said.
Lai Tiansheng, director of Guangdong Quality and Technology
Supervision Bureau, said that as China's major export province, Guangdong
had founded a WTO information center, studying world technological
standards and related laws. The province had established 40
state-level and 153 province-level agricultural standardized zones,
improving the agricultural products' international
competitiveness.
However, challenges to China's agricultural export still exist,
Li said. In recent years, some developed countries raised import
standards for agricultural products, which was a serious problem
for China, he said.
Foreign agricultural products of high quality and at low prices
would have impact on China's market, so measures have to be taken
to intensify management of agricultural products, and to quickly
improve their competitiveness in the world market, he said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 24)