Zhu Zhixin, commissioner of the NBS, said at a news briefing on China?s significant statistical data in Beijing on Friday that Chinese agricultural production has "accelerated towards regional concentration, qualitative improvement and industrialization."

The NBS statistics showed that 103.99 million hectares of grain were cultivated during the entire year, 2.09 million hectares less than last year. In contrast, the total grain output for the year was 457.11 million tons, up 1.02 percent from last year, said the NBS.

In addition, output of oil-yielding crops and sugar crops increased 1.2 percent and 17.3 percent, respectively.

The NBS also reported respective year-on-year increases in output of 4 and 3 percent for meat and aquatic products.

Meanwhile, industrial production registered rapid growth with new progress in structural adjustment, Zhu noted, adding that China's industries had made concrete improvements in overall quality during the year.

The total added value of the industrial sector for 2002 was 4,593.5 billion yuan, up 10.2 percent over the previous and being the highest since 1998, Zhu said.

Foreign trade, high-tech and consumer products that are part of the up-scale consumption structure, including personal computers, mobile telephones, semi-conductor integrated circuits and color TV sets, all achieved growth above 25.9 percent, the NBS statistics showed.

Zhu said that it was "obvious" that market-oriented, export-oriented and consumption-oriented products have undergone dramatic growth in the year 2002.

(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2003)