A bonanza of top-grade farm produce drew thousands of visitors and buyers in Beijing on Tuesday. From delicious Jiangsu Province crabs to pure honey from Hainan, more than 3,200 varieties of food products from 971 firms turned the China National Agricultural Exhibition Center into a megamarket.

The Second China Ag Trade Fair, which formally opened yesterday, showcases agricultural products certified as contamination-free or organic, as well as China's hallmark agricultural exports.

In his visit to the trade fair yesterday, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu said the annual event contributes to international agricultural exchanges by expanding farm produce trade while helping the sector embrace the market economy.

A total of 550 top-notch Chinese agricultural enterprises are displaying their agricultural, aquatic, animal husbandry and farming machinery products at the fair, said Minister of Agriculture Du Qinglin.

In addition, companies and trade associations from 13 foreign countries, including Australia, France, Ireland, Japan and the United States, are participating.

Agricultural product and service suppliers will meet 9,000 domestic and 400 overseas retailers, including leading foreign-funded supermarkets in China, said Ministry of Agriculture sources.

Kwok Ho, president of the Chaoda Modern Agriculture Ltd, which has booked 30 booths to display its 1,000 varieties of farm products, said on Tuesday that his company had already clinched deals valued at 1 billion yuan (US$120 million) on the first day of the five-day fair.

"The company is very much encouraged by the keen passion visitors and consumers have shown for the green and organic food Chaoda provides," he said.

Like Chaoda, several hundred of the country's leading agricultural firms appearing at the trade fair have played a key role in modernizing and industrializing China's agriculture industry.

They have built production bases throughout the country, mobilized and trained farmers to become agricultural workers and contributed to improving their skills, working conditions and income, according to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture.

At the First International Ag Trade Fair, held last November in Beijing, suppliers and retailers clinched deals valued at 17 billion yuan (US$2 billion).

The Ministry of Agriculture anticipates expanding the annual event to provide a stage for the country's agricultural firms to display their achievements in highlighting food safety and quality, said Vice Minister of Agriculture Niu Dun.

(China Daily October 13, 2004)