China's online sales of farm produce grow in 2016

BEIJING - Online sales of China's farm produce continued to grow in 2016 as more farmers take to e-commerce.

Online produce sales are estimated at over 220 billion yuan ($32 billion) last year, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in a Tuesday statement.

Agricultural e-commerce has been developing fast with structural reform in the agricultural sector. Online produce sales reached 150 billion yuan in 2015, more than triple that of 2013.

The government started a pilot program in 2014 to digitize agriculture and aims for Internet access in almost all villages by 2020.

Supply-side structural reform in the agricultural sector will generate new development in the sector, according to the "No 1 central document," the first policy statement from the central authorities this year.

The "No 1 central document" is the name traditionally given to the first policy statement released by the central authorities in the year and is seen as an indicator of policy priorities