GUANGZHOU: Guangdong's eel exports have witnessed big increases in the first eight months this year.

The province sold 3,152.72 tons of live eel abroad from January to August this year, up 43.2 per cent from the corresponding months of last year, according to an official from the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation yesterday.

The province, China's biggest exporter, earned US$23.2 million from exports between January and August, an increase of 75.3 per cent, the official said.

Exports in the first eight months accounted for more than 95 per cent of the country's total; and the July figure reached a record high of more than 900 tons in a single month.

Exports of roasted eel are also enjoying stable growth, the official said.

Most exports are to Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea.

The official attributed the rapid increase in exports to the government's efforts to expand the eel-raising industry and ensure only healthy ones are sold abroad; many overseas business people, particularly Japanese importers, wanted only Guangdong eels, he added.

The Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Quarantine and Inspection for Export and Import Products has set up a system of electronic checks in major eel-raising farms to supervise operations, including usage of forage and medicine, farm disinfection and disease prevention and control.

Guangdong has 133 eel farms licensed for direct exports.

(HK Edition 09/25/2003 page7)