The government plans to foster more large distributors of farming materials in the next five years as farmers are expected to spend more on means of production.

The country will have 10 large distributors by 2010, each with a sales volume of more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.25 billion), according to the Ministry of Commerce's 11th Five-Year Plan for the building of a rural market system.

Only four such enterprises currently existed, said Huang Hai, Assistant Minister of Commerce.

Farming materials distributors need to expand their business scope and strengthen their competitiveness, according to the plan, which predicts sales of farming materials will reach 1.1 trillion yuan in 2010 and the annual growth rate will be maintained at 10 percent.

Meanwhile, per capita spending of farmers on production materials is expected to increase 10 percent annually over the next five years, thanks to the country's stable economic growth and technological advancement in farming.

(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2006)