$147b of food to be imported in 5 years

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-17 07:49

WUHAN - More overseas food products will be seen in the domestic market because imports are expected to reach 1 trillion yuan ($147 billion) in the next five years despite the worsening global financial crisis, industry experts said on Tuesday.

The crowded 17th Chinese food exposition and trade fair that ended in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, yesterday raised that possibility further.

The trend of rising food imports is inevitable, said Wang Wenzhe, chairman of China National Food Industry Association, which sponsored the fair. But "the most important thing is that we are better off than we were 30 years ago", he said.

Farmer Zhao Youneng looks upon his corn harvest with a big smile in Wulongtan village, Lufeng county, in Yunnan province, December 15, 2008. [Xinhua]

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents rose from 343.4 yuan and 133.6 yuan in 1978 to 13,785.8 yuan and 4,140.4 yuan last year.

"Given the global economic crisis, it's very important to boost international trade in order to sharpen the competitive edge of the country's food industry," Wang said. He estimated that overseas food producers would export 1 trillion yuan worth of products to the country in the next five years.

Wang said that in 1992, the country exported $9.6 billion worth of food products and its food imports were only $4 billion. But figures have soared since, reaching $32.3 billion in exports and $30.6 billion in imports last year.

Last year, the country's food industry generated 3.27 trillion yuan compared to 47.1 billion yuan in 1978. And its revenue this year is expected to jump to 4 trillion yuan.

Industry experts said importing high-end food products would not only boost consumption and meet the market demand, but also help incorporate the agricultural and food industries. This is crucial if the country's food sector has to develop from primary processing to in-depth processing.

The country lags the West in processed food products, said Zhang Li, chief of the consumer product industry division of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Only 30 percent of food consumed in China is processed compared to 60 to 80 percent in the developed countries.

Zhou Xianwang, chief of Hubei provincial bureau of commerce, said the leading consumers in the next decade would be the only-child generation born in the 1980s and the 1990s, that is more ready to embrace the consumption tide of imported food products.

Xinhua