Chinese food exporters are being trained to understand approved pesticide residue limits in relation to their exports to Japan.

 

The training is aimed at improving management over the quality of food and agricultural products and promoting China's agricultural product exports, said an official with the Ministry of Commerce.

 

The training was conducted in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, on March 16.

 

During the two-day training session, which was jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, trainees were given an introduction to Japanese requirements relating to residual pesticide levels.

 

Seven similar training courses have also been established in Beijing and Shandong municipalities, and Fujian and Zhejiang, Liaoning, Anhui and Hubei provinces. More than 3,000 people from 1,600 enterprises have attended the sessions.

 

The training class aims to cover 2,000 export-oriented firms in China, which will account for one-third of the number of Chinese enterprises that have been approved as exporters of agricultural products to Japan.

 

China mainly exports agricultural products to Japan, the EU and the US, the country's three largest trading partners, accounting for 52 percent of China's total export volume.

 

Last year, China exported US$7.93 billion worth of agricultural products to Japan, accounting for 29 percent of the country's total exports.

 

According to the Ministry of Commerce, exports to Japan are made by more than 6,200 Chinese enterprises.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2006)