ASIA TIMES ONLINE, March 9, 2005 (www.atimes.com)SHANGHAI - China’s food, auxiliary materials and additives market is drawing the attention of global investors. Output reached US$194.5 billion last year, much of it in exports.
According to data from the State Bureau of Statistics, in 2004, China’s food industry output value reached 1.610 trillion yuan (US$194.5 billion), and export reached 40.3 billion yuan, both 26% than in the previous years.
Now the ratio of sales to production has reached 97.8%, and the investment structure is reasonable, said Du He, assistant to the secretary-general of the China National Food Industry Association.
The great market potential has become very attractive to overseas investment. In 2004, the total foreign investment in the industry made up 6.67% of the total. The food additive industry has also grown standardized and internationalized.
The products now go to many countries, with the dominant exports of monosodium glutamate, citric acid, xylose and xylitol.The increasing demand of auxiliary materials and additives will make it a new engine of growth for China’s food industry.
The 2005 Asia Food Auxiliary Material and Technology Exhibition that opened on March 1 in Shanghai attracted 1,000 food and auxiliary materials dealers from Germany, Israel, Finland, Switzerland, Australia, France, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The exhibition also attracted many top enterprises of the industry to show their products, including Valio Group, the largest century-old milk enterprise in Finland; DD Williamson, worldwide caramel color leader; Asia Candy, which is famous for its variant amylum of Thai flavor; H&F of Germany, world leading fruit GEL manufacturer; Tatua Dairy of New Zealand, world largest lactoferrin supplier; Ballantyne Food Ingredients, the largest cheese powder manufacturer in Australia.
It is estimated that more than 2,500 international buyers attended the exhibition.
China’s food and auxiliary materials industry will face both challenges and opportunities, said Du He. Now Chinese enterprises are trying to start businesses overseas. Some products with special Chinese features, such as medicated food, have aroused widespread interest from overseas experts.
(Asia Pulse/XIC)