Chinese agricultural officials appealed in Moscow on Thursday to
speed up talks with their Russian colleagues to eliminate bans on
each other's agricultural products such as meat, rice and milk at
an early date.
"We hope concerned departments from the two governments will
speed up consultations on agricultural quarantine and settle those
problems as soon as possible," said Qian Keming, director of a
promotion center for agricultural trade under Chinese Ministry of
Agriculture.
Russia has banned imports of Chinese chilled meat and prepared
meat product while China has forbidden imports of Russian wheat and
animal products including milk since September 2004, due to
disputes on quarantine. Russia imposed a ban on Chinese rice last
December.
China-Russia agricultural trade, however, recorded fast growth
in recent years. The average annual growth rate hit 30 percent
since 1999. Bilateral agricultural trade volume amounted to US$2.18
billion last year, Qian told a press conference.
Also on Thursday, Zhou Qijiang, deputy director of the overseas
economic cooperation center under the Ministry of Agriculture, said
that China will coordinate with Russia to set up platforms for
cooperation and give directions for joint agricultural
projects.
China will encourage big agricultural companies to invest in
Russia and lead experienced technicians to carry out cooperation in
Russia, he said.
Russia, rich in land and resources but with less population, has
become a new destination of Chinese agricultural companies which
are rich in know-hows and management experience as well as funds
thanks to the three decades of reform in Chinese agricultural
sector.
There have been more than 70 agricultural production bases
established by Chinese companies in Russia's far east and the area
summed up to 100,000 hectare, according to the ministry's
statistics.
(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2007)
