The average annual growth of China's agricultural product exports is expected to slow down slightly over the next five years, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The ministry made the prediction in its statement on the first five-year plan for China's agricultural product exports.

In order to boost their exports, the nation's agricultural producers are being urged to strengthen the competitive edge of their brands by improving product quality and strengthening innovation, according to the statement.

China's agricultural product exports are expected to reach a total value of US$38 billion by 2010, with an annual growth rate of 7 per cent, compared to 8.3 per cent annual growth notched up between 1995 and 2005.

The total value of China's agricultural product exports increased from US$16 billion in 1995 to US$27.18 billion in 2005, a leap of 70 per cent. But, as a proportion of China's total exports, they fell from 8.2 per cent to 3.6 per cent. This was mainly a result of the sector's lack of competitiveness and overseas trade barriers.

As a result, the Chinese Government is calling on agricultural producers to improve their product quality and develop more value-added products.

The ministry's statement said that high value-added products should account for 30 per cent of China's agricultural product exports by 2010.

The provinces of Shandong, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangsu and the Shanghai Municipality are currently responsible for 80 per cent of China's agricultural product exports.

"Producers from different regions of China could leverage their advantages to promote exports," said Lu Jianhua, director of the ministry's Foreign Trade Department.

These provinces should boost their research and development investment in order to foster more high value-added products, western China should focus more on developing specialized agricultural products, and central China should boost its productivity, said Lu.

Companies from eastern China are being encouraged to establish export bases in central and western China, boosting exports from these areas, added Lu.

According to experts' estimates, every US$10,000 of agricultural product exports directly and indirectly creates about 20 jobs.

The central government is planning to provide more financial support and enhance export-related services for agricultural exporters.

Around the world, the agriculture sector is one of the most heavily protected, with many developed countries granting high subsidies to agricultural exporters. Currently, 25 World Trade Organization members grant export subsidies to 428 kinds of agricultural products, but China has yet to develop a unified system to promote agricultural exports.

"The government will offer more financial support in terms of taxation, credit, and credit insurance," said Lu.

Editor: Yan