An increasing number of Chinese farmers are aware of the country's
World Trade Organization (WTO) entry and are trying to understand
what it really means to them.
Their transition was assisted Monday by overseas experts, who were
in Beijing to discuss the post-WTO agriculture environment.
"China's farmers had little input into China's decision to join the
WTO but for a successful entry, a great deal depends on them to
make the changes and to implement the reforms that will benefit
their families and all China's citizens,'' said Frederick Crook, an
agriculture expert who has retired from the Markets and Trade
Division of the Economic Research Service at the US Department of
Agriculture.
During Monday's forum, Crook and four other agriculture experts
from the United States hoped to bring local farmers up to speed
about the changes.
Robert Anderson, a leading figure in the development of US national
organic policies and standards, said China's ascension to the WTO
will continue to reduce and eliminate trade barriers between it and
the US and pave the way for more growth in agricultural trade.
He
said there are significant opportunities for Chinese organic
farmers, suppliers, manufacturers and exporters to explore within
the US market.
The US and China are large trading partners in agricultural
products, representing a US$2.7 billion market. China is the sixth
largest export market for US agriculture.
"Understanding the organic consumer, the US organic marketplace and
the US organic regulations are necessary for Chinese agriculture to
access this exciting US market,'' Anderson said.
Chinese scholars believe enhancing exchanges and consultations
between China and other countries will help both promote healthy
trade.
Xu
Xiaoqing, deputy director-general of the Department of Rural
Economic Research at the Development Research Center of the State
Council, said China has made a large number of commitments in the
agriculture sector and the transition period will be crucial and
even painful for local farmers.
Wen Tiejun, from the Rural Economy Research Center at the Chinese
Ministry of Agriculture, said Chinese farmers on small plots of
land cannot compete with big farms in the United States, saying the
WTO entry will depress farmer incomes, particularly in the center
and west of China.
Wen said the import of cheap, high quality agricultural products
will make it harder to use economic policies to boost domestic
production.
According to a recent survey by the State Council Development
Research Center, about 70 percent of rural people have been pushed
away from their home areas by the shortage of agricultural
resources.
Xu
said it will be unrealistic for China to underestimate the negative
impact on rural employment and the incomes of Chinese farmers after
the WTO entry.
"But one thing is clear, that when we open our door other countries
also open their doors,'' Xu said.
"With enhancing co-operation with the US, we could strive for more
beneficial conditions in an advantageous position in the global
agricultural market.''
(China
Daily October 22, 2002)