Industry aiming for widespread upgrading, greater efficiency
China is strengthening efforts to promote the economic development of the grain sector via efforts like industrial transformation and upgrading, with the aim of forging a modern industrial grain system by 2020, an official said Wednesday.
China's grain sector has seen considerable growth in recent years. In 2016, the output by the sector's 18,000 domestic enterprises rose 13.3 percent year-on-year to 2.8 trillion yuan ($429 billion), and the amount of grain processed reached 480 million tons during the same period, according to data released by the State Administration of Grain (SAG).
Some problems still persist in China's grain industry, including improper industry structure, low utilization of capacity, a lack of mid-to-high-end products, and inadequate investment in research and development, said Zhang Wufeng, head of the SAG.
China's grain industry is trying to advance to a mid-to-high-end level, and the efforts include cutting costs, enhancing services and increasing the supply of high-quality grain products, Zhang told an industrial conference held in Binzhou, East China's Shandong Province.
"By the end of 2020, China will have formed a modern industrial grain system that complies with national conditions and the situation of the grain sector," Zhang said.
Zhang noted that the annual added value of China's grain industry is expected to grow by around 7 percent by 2020 and the amount of high-quality grain products will rise 10 percentage points.
Local governments have encouraged grain producers to upgrade themselves, and Binzhou has set a good example as local grain companies have been exploring new industrial growth methods, said Zhang.
Binzhou has so far nurtured more than 160 grain and oil processing companies that are above the State designated standards. These firms can process over 14 million tons of grain each year, providing a driver for local economic growth, according to the SAG.
"The government of Binzhou encourages local grain producers to firmly comply with a green development road," Zhao Qingping, vice mayor of Binzhou, told a meeting on Tuesday.
Grain producers in Binzhou have stepped up efforts to improve their use of raw materials and have pursued sustainable development in the industry, Zhao said, noting that in Binzhou, the comprehensive use ratio of wheat, corn and beans had reached more than 98 percent.
"Sanxing Group can produce 200,000 to 300,000 tons of edible corn oil each year," Huo Guangbin, production director of Binzhou-based corn oil producer Sanxing Group, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
