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China to see greater presence of imported food

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-16 20:43

WUHAN -- Imported foods will have a greater presence in China, with imports to total 1 trillion yuan (147 million US dollars) in the next five years, despite the impact of worsening global financial crisis, according to industry experts.

Vendors await customers behind a display of vegetables for sale at a market in Beijing in November. Imported foods will have a greater presence in China, with imports to total 1 trillion yuan (147 million US dollars) in the next five years, despite the impact of worsening global financial crisis, according to industry experts. [Agencies]

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This prediction can be illustrated in part by the crowded 17th Chinese food exposition and trade fair that concluded in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday.

Representatives from more than 1,200 enterprises worldwide attended the five-day exposition-cum-fair,displaying more than 10,000 kinds of foodstuffs,1,000 of which were imported from 30 other countries.

Wang Wenzhe, chairman of China National Food Industry Association, which sponsored the fair, said the trend more imported foods in the years to come is inevitable.

"The most important thing is that we are better off than we were 30 years ago," he said.

The National Bureau of Statistics showed the per capita disposable income for urbanites rose from 343.4 yuan (about 50.5 US dollars) in 1978 to 13,785.8 yuan last year. The per capita net income for rural people also went uplast year, from 133.6 yuan to 4,140.4 yuan.

"With global economic crisis as the backdrop, it will be very important to boost international trade in order to improve competing power of China's food industry," said Wang, who estimated business deals for foreign food producers at one trillion yuan (147 billion US dollars) in the next five years.

China has transformed from a nation short of food supplies into a leading food producer and consumer in the world through the reform and opening-up drive of the past three decades.

The country's food sector generated 3.27 trillion yuan last year, compared to 47.1 billion yuan in 1978. The sector's sales revenue is expected to skyrocket to 4 trillion yuan this year.

According to Wang Wenzhen, China exported 9.6 billion US dollars worth of foodstuffs and imported 4 billion US dollars worth of foodstuffs in 1992. But food exports soared to 32.3 billion US dollars and imports rose to 30.6 billion US dollars last year.

At present, imported food is available only at exclusive chainstores established by multinationals. Since the explosion of these stores five years ago in major Chinese cities, volume has increased at an annual rate of 15 percent.

Wang was supported by other industry experts who believe that importing high-end foodstuffs from foreign countries will not only help foster a consumption trend and meet market demand, but also advance the incorporation of the agricultural and food industries. This could be crucial in helping China's food sector develop from primary processing to in-depth processing.

Zhang Li, chief of consumer product industry division of the Industry and Information Technology Ministry, said China lagged behind western countries in processed foodstuffs which only made up 30 percent of food consumed in China. That is far behind the rate of 60 percent to 80 percent in developed countries.

Zhou Xianwang, chief of Hubei Provincial Bureau of Commerce, said imported food is a high-end consumer fad at domestic market and the demand follows improved living standards.

"Moreover, the leading force of the domestic consumption market in China in the forthcoming decade will be the only-child generations born in 1980s and 1990s, who are more ready to embrace the consumption tide of imported food," said Zhou.