A project aiming to improve the processing of agricultural products in China and jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) began operating Tuesday, according to sources in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.
The project aims to fit in with World Trade Organization (WTO) requirements for agricultural product processing and to train Chinese personnel and facilitate discussions on relevant issues.
The program is expected make domestic agricultural businesses more competitive in the global market, according to MST official Wang Zhe.
Four test sites where cole, bean, apple and peanuts are to be cultivated will be established in Jingzhou, Harbin, Yantai and Qingdao according to the agreement between MST and UNDP.
The program runs for four years with both parties investing 1.1 million US dollars.
Experts say that China still lags far behind developed nations in the processing of agricultural products even though the country's total agricultural output has topped the world since the early 1980s.
(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2002)
