Tomato paste exports hit new high
(Tomato Paste Trade)
Updated: 2005-07-15 09:01

Xinjiang Production and Construction Corp (XPCC), a semi-autonomous administration within the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has the potential to become the largest exporter of tomato paste in the world, according to Hua Shifei, Deputy Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party of XPCC.

The production capacity of XPCC's operation has reached 500 million tons a year, making XPCC by far the largest tomato paste producer in the nation. Most of the paste produced is exported.

XPCC accounts for a quarter of the total global trade of tomato paste, Hua told reporters in a recent interview.

Revenue from XPCC's tomato paste production reached 1.1 billion yuan (US$133 million) last year.

In the first five months of this year, exports of XPCC tomato paste reached US$43 million, a rise of 46.2 per cent year-on-year.

Hua expects the revenue from XPCC's tomato paste to rise to 1.8 billion yuan (US$217.6 million) this year, a 63 per cent increase on last year.

A further increase to 2.5 billion yuan (US$302.3 million) is expected next year. By 2010, the total value could reach 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion), Hua said.

By then, XPCC may have become the largest exporter of tomato paste in the world.

XPCC was established in 1954 by the Central Government to both guard the frontier and cultivate the wild west.

It is a special organization that handles its own administrative and judicial affairs within its areas of operation.

With a total population of more than 2.5 million, XPCC is subject to the dual leadership of the central government and the local government of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Nie Weiguo, Commissar of XPCC, said the XPCC has played a very important role in boosting local economic development, maintaining social stability, and consolidating border defence.

Nie said the economy of XPCC has increased rapidly in the past five decades.

XPCC's GDP per capita reached US$1,430 last year, 12 per cent higher than the nation's average.

Wang Chongjiu, vice-commissar of XPCC dismissed the question of whether XPCC is needed anymore.

Wang said XPCC has been a decisive force in smashing and resisting internal and external separatists attempts at sabotage and infiltration in past years.

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 in the United States, international co-operation in the fight against terrorism has seen XPCC play a bigger role in stabilizing the region, Wang added.

"XPCC is irreplaceable in terms of maintaining the stability of Xinjiang," said Wang. "The organization should exist for a long period."

China has a centuries-old tradition of developing and protecting its border areas by stationing troops to cultivate and guard the frontier areas.

Such practices can be traced back more than 2000 years.