On the 20th anniversary of the founding of the China Food Industry
Association, representatives of some Chinese 100 enterprises
gathered last month at the China Food Industry's Development Forum
in the New Century to discuss the state of the food industry in
China. The assessment of the government officials, scholars and
CEOs at the forum: The food industry in China has distinguished
itself above all other national industries, expanding its range to
offer higher quality and variety of foods to the food market and
matching the gradual rising living standard of the Chinese people.
Since 1996, the industry has ranked first among all industries in
total output value.
The annual rate of increase in the total value of China's food
industry output from 1980 to 2000 was 13.1 percent, realizing a
goal stated in the Outline for China Food Industry from 1981-2000
earlier than expected. In 2001, from January to October, the whole
country's food sale achieved 708.71 billion yuan (US$85.73
billion), a 13.38 percent increase compared to the same period of
the year before. Meanwhile, the food industry fulfilled the
industrial output value of 740.92 billion yuan (US$89.63 billion)
against the current market price, an 11.72 percent increase
compared to the same period of the year before. It is estimated
that the industrial output of the whole year 2001 in the food
industry against the current price will be 954.6 billion yuan
(US$115.47 billion), an 11 percent increase compared with that of
year 2000.
As
far as profit and tax are concerned, from January to October of
2001, the food industry contributed 136.91 billion yuan (US$16.56
billion), a 16.11 percent increase compared to the same period the
year before. And it is expected that the figure will reach 169.3
billion yuan (US$20.48 billion), or an 18.4 percent increase
compared to all of the previous year.
Challenges facing the food industry include meeting varying
nutritional requirements for different consumers, increasing the
available amount of high-quality protein food and food that is rich
in minerals and vitamins, and some basic high-quality but
low-priced food staples. A still higher standard is demanded of the
food industry if it is to further consumer ability to pursue a
nutritious diet while provide fundamental agricultural products. A
recent survey suggests that among the some 2500 calories of energy
burned by the average person in China, protein takes up 72 grams,
and fat 60 grams, enough to meet the basic demands to live on. But
the average amount of high-quality protein that one takes in
accounts for 25 percent, much lower than the international standard
of 35 percent. Even worse, this percentage is even lower in the
countryside.
Another survey of 16-year-old children living in the countryside
also indicates that the average height of the child is 1.58 meters,
two centimeters shorter than the children living in urban areas,
and those in countryside also experience a comparative slow growth.
On the other hand, more people living in the cities are suffering
from high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
China is rich in various food resources thanks to its expansive and
accessible geography for planting consumer food stuffs. However,
the participants at the conference also indicated that many food
resources haven't been effectively tapped such as some marine
resources, edible mushrooms, insects, herbs (for both food and
medicine), and some wild plants. All of these resources have the
advantages of being richly varied, widely available, natural and
without any bad effects. At the same time, they are unique in
style, some of them with both nutritional and medicinal benefits.
Through developing these resources, foods can be obtained so as to
add the variety of food available and help raise people's living
standard. Take Changbai Mountain for instance, its southwest slope
alone includes some 188 resources worth developing, and yet so far
only eight have been collected and produced for consumption. As for
many other natural foods growing in mountainous regions, their very
existence remains unnoticed. So, forum participants noted, China
should take scientific measures to protect traditional foods and
processing techniques related to those foods which have special
standing in social economy and cultural heritage.
Individual forum participants also made the following
observations:
- Li Shijing, chairman of the Beijing Food Industry
Association: Because of a serious food shortage in the 1980s,
people had to buy grain food, oil, eggs, milk and meat with
allocated coupons. At that time, for instance, the Arctic Ocean
Company had to start production three months in advance to have
enough beverages to supply people's needs for the May 1st holiday.
The main task of our work at that time was to solve conflicts
between supply and demand. However, today it's a totally different
story. A short time ago, Beijing discovered that among the top five
brands of 17 kinds of foods categories surveyed in 300 shops, 50
percent came from joint ventures, 35 percent from state-owned
enterprises and the remaining 15 percent from privately-owned
enterprises. The new structure of the food industry has been
largely established; people have more options in choosing their
food; and the annual food value of food consumed has hit 10 billion
yuan (US$1209 million) in Beijing alone. The focus of our work is
to make city life more varied, agricultural more market-oriented,
family food preparation more convenient, food substances more
nutritious, so as to guarantee that food quality, sanitation and
nutrition meets a high standard.
- Lu Liangshu, director of the State Food and Nutrition
Consultant Commission:Chinese citizens have fully stepped into
a period with a comparatively well-off living standard. Thanks to
an increase in personal income, people have begun to demand a
higher-quality life, putting emphasis on a more rational, healthy
and well-balanced nutritional diet. It is estimated that by 2010,
Chinese citizens' food consumption structure and level will come
into a middle stage of a comparatively well-off living standard,
the food quality for Chinese citizens will be definitely improved.
By the year 2020, Chinese people's nutrition structure in their
diet will step into a new phase, approaching Asian developed
countries or regions' nutrition structure level and assuring that
the calories and protein each person takes in per day meets a
rational standard. By the year 2030, the annual food consumption is
expected to reach 450 kilogram per person, but the average grain
ration per person will decrease to some extent. The meat
consumption per person will be comparatively stable, with a
continuing increase in poultry, lamb and beef. And the consumption
of aquaculture products and milk products will witness a rapid
increase.
- Jiang Chunyun, member of the Political Bureau of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China and the vice chairman of
the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress:
Compared with other developed countries, China still lags behind in
terms of the processing ability for agricultural and affiliated
products. As for the developed countries, the industrial output
value for food processing is always three times agricultural
output, but in China, the processing output value only takes up
less than 80 percent of agricultural output. The labor force for
comprehensive food-processing on the agricultural and related
products in developed countries is more than five times than that
for agricultural production. However, in China, only less than
one-fifth of the labor force is involved in the food-processing
industry. All of this data suggest that China's food industry still
has huge potential and much room to develop itself in years to
come. The food industry should speed up its pace of development
based on its history and current situation.
(北京青年報(bào)
[Beijing Youth Daily], December 5, 2001 by Wei Shiping, translated
by Feng Shu for China.org.cn)