Analysis of Chinese Vegetable Industry's International Competitiveness

중국 채소산업의 경쟁력 분석

  • Kwon, Yong-Dae (Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Graduate School, Chungnam National University) ;
  • Shin, Yong-Gil (Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Graduate School, Chungnam National University)
  • 권용대 (충남대학교 대학원 농업경제학과) ;
  • 신용길 (충남대학교 대학원 농업경제학과)
  • Published : 2005.12.31

Abstract

This study is to provide a comprehensive overview of the changing vegetable sector of Chinese agriculture and to analyse the competitiveness of Chinese vegetable production. China now produces more than 60% of the world's vegetable supply and that 150 million people are engaged in vegetable production, processing and marketing since the reform of vegetable industry structure started in the late 1980s. As a labour abundant industry, China also features more comparative advantages in the vegetable trade. Although China's vegetable exports still accounts for only 1% of total production, the 5 million tons of export in 2003 makes China one of the largest vegetable players in the international markets. When estimating competitiveness of China's vegetable industry, China's producers' prices for vegetables are founded to be only from 10%~40% of what they are in Korea, while most of China's vegetables have also strong competitiveness in quality. As China joined the WTO in 2001 and expects to increase market share in vegetable trade, the development strategy for Korea's vegetable industry are suggested as follows; 1) focusing on the technology for the growth of vegetable productivity, 2) developing the higher value added vegetable industry through processing, 3) expanding the exported area and leading vegetable varieties.

Keywords