Memoire Online - Extent of fair trade market and China potential for a bigger fair trade market

EXTENT OF FAIR TRADE MARKET AND CHINA POTENTIAL FOR A BIGGER FAIR TRADE MARKET

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the extent of the fair trade market relative to agricultural products. The fair trade market is currently limited to some developed countries mostly in Europe, North America and few other countries in rest of the world (Japan, Australia and New Zealand). The size of this market is confined so that it faces difficulties to clear the production though that production is in term of products and producers. The fair trade elan is somehow jeopardized. Some developing countries like China can help enlarging the fair trade market. China has sufficient infrastructures and potential buyers; the authorities are willing to introduce ecological farming methods in order to restrain the growing environmental concerns and their consequences. This macro level approach can be completed by a micro level approach in order to set a complete view of the question.

INTRODUCTION

International trade debates nowadays are marked by the uprise of alternative trade models. Fair trade among others is concentrating the attention of scholars, businesses, NGO's, producers and consumers.

According to FINE, fair trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers - especially in the South. Some definition stress on the north-south relation in term of distribution and revenue, so «Fair trade is a commercial partnership between distributors in rich countries and producers in poor countries. It guarantees producers a minimum income for the purchase of their products regardless of market fluctuations. Its aim is to foster local development and improve producers' living conditions. Fair trade contributes to sustainable development»^1(*). An extended definition is given by Wikipedia that introduces the concepts of social justice, environment, label and organization: «Fair trade is an organized social movement which promotes equitable standards for international labour, environmentalism, and social policy in areas related to the production of labelled and unlabelled goods, which may range from handcrafts to agricultural commodities. The movement focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries with a particular attention to marginalized producers and workers in order to help them move from a position of vulnerability to security and economic self-sufficiency. It also aims at empowering them to become stakeholders in their own organizations and actively play a wider role in the global arena to achieve greater equity in international trade».

The remote history of fair trade is accredited to the Netherlands by the 1860's ( Claire V, 2002) due to the «culture System» instituted to make beneficial the Dutch colony of JAVA in Indonesia. Products such as such as sugar, coffee, indigo and tobacco and pepper which have to be cultivated in order to generate taxes for the colonial authorities (P. Silaen, C. and J. Smark, 2006 ). The culture system has to be abandoned among other things due to the influence of a book: Max Havelaar^2(*) published in 1860 on the farmer's unbearable working condition. The most recent history and development of fair trade is attributed to the actions of churches and NGO's by the inter World War period, in the context of various attempts to control the international commodity markets characterized by a rapid decline of the prices (Fridell, 2004). The fair trade system has the particularity to have the producers in developing countries and the other actors of the market (importer, processors, and buyers) in the developed countries. However not all of the developed countries are really involved in the fair trade products; also, even with in the traditional fair trade market the share of fair trade product is minor. The recent growing interest of farmers to the fair trade system has raised the question of the extent this market. Considering the oversupply noticed in the so-called niche market, one can think of how to enlarge it. We consider that some developing countries can contribute to the development of fair trade network in term of market expansion. Among other developing countries, we choose to talk about China. A macro level approach is used to consider China potentials for creating fair trade market with a special focus on agricultural commodities. The focus on agricultural commodities is comprehensible not only because of their importance with in the range of fair trade products but also due to their implication on people well being. The current shape of fair trade market will be presented prior to addressing China's potentialities.

1. The current shape of the fair trade market.

The fair trade system recognizes implicitly the mainstreaming strategy as the way that allows its trade to come up and raise consumers' awareness. J.M. Krier (2005) gives prominence to that idea by asserting that «fair trade has become more than a «niche market» for socially-aware and middle-class Northern consumers. It is expanding into mainstream distribution channels and is increasingly being recognized by consumers, public authorities and even private companies as an efficient tool for poverty eradication and sustainable development.»^3(*). The European market seems to be the one with the greatest numbers of countries interested in fair trade products; however noteworthy overhang is being realized in other developed countries beyond Europe.

1.1The European fair trade market

The fair trade market structure in Europe is under an on going structuring. The distribution channel is not completely mature and stable in term of strategy due to the inconsistency among the different school of thoughts behind the fair trade movement. The commercialization structures include wholesalers and retailers provided by local or international fair trade importers. The fair trade market in Europe can be divided in three groups: the advanced market, the middle market, and the beginning market.

1.1.1 The advanced market

Few countries have participated at the inception of fair trade fair trade system but alongside its development, more and more countries show interest in joining the movement Up to 1995 few countries (14) have developed or started to develop fair trade market. In 1998 the number of countries has slightly risen to 18, and more recently, 25 countries have been counted as expending the fair trade market. More than a quarter of these countries can be classified as advanced according to their fair trade networks and the figures of their sales. The advanced market group brings together the UK, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and Netherlands. In this group the shape of the market is not uniform; however the agricultural commodities represent a substantial part of the sales.

In term of delivery channel, this group mostly proposes products through supermarkets except in Germany where the sales are mostly realized in worldshops. The greatest part of the sales are represented by labeled products; and the food products still keep the highest percentage with in the range of agricultural commodities. The common products are coffee, banana, cocoa, chocolate, tea, fresh fruits, dried fruit, sugar, rice, and fruit juice. Flower is also getting more important in the sales.

Besides the fact that those countries are among the first to experiment the fair trade model, their leading position can be due to the development of campaigning that achieve to raise the consumers awareness on fair trade products. However, lately the market has been marked by a quite low level of progress or sometimes declining trends in some products have been observed (in Netherlands and France). The UK and Switzerland are the two leading market of fair trade products in this first group. The table below summarizes the sales of fair trade products for the developed market.

Country	2005 (in millions of Euro)	2006 (in millions of Euro)	Increase (%)
UK	276.8	409.5	48
France	109.1	160.0	47
Switzerland	133.8	135.3	1
Germany	70.9	110.0	55
Italy	28.0	34.5	23
Netherlands	36.5	41.0	12

1.1.2 The middle market

The middle market is the one that have already developed fair trade market structures but that have a middle-of-the-road level of sales. Countries in this group have a potential to develop their fair trade market because of the number of their population, and the experience they can get from other countries of the advanced group. In this group there are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Spain, and Sweden. The sales of fair trade products go through mainstream supermarkets, worldshops outlets and other specialized outlets. In the range of agricultural products, labeled food products represent the greatest shares of the sales, and the list of products is quite the same as in the first group except in the Czech Republic where the were very few sales of food product. The following table shows the trend of the fair trade sales in the European middle market.

Country	2005 (in millions of Euro)	2006 (in millions of Euro)	Increase (%)
Austria	25.6	41.7	63
Belgium	15.0	28.0	86
Czech Republic	NA	NA	NA
Denmark	14.0	21.5	54
Finland	13.0	22.5	73
Ireland	6.6	11.6	77
Spain	0.03	1.9	7.474
Sweden	9.3	16.0	73

1.1.3 The new market

This group is mainly constituted of the countries that are at their first stage of developing fair trade market. Some of them however have started experiencing the fair trade system for some years but without success, so is the case of Hungary, Malta and Portugal (between 1996 and 1998). The other countries like Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Luxembourg, Norway, and Poland have started establishing their fair trade structures by the late 2000's. The supply of fair trade products passes through the wholesalers of the two previous groups (advanced and middle market). The sales remain in some cases at an experimental stage. In Malta and Portugal there are some worldshop in charge of sales, but in general there is not yet supply by supermarkets. The range of products offered is also limited to the basic food products (labelled banana, coffee, tea, but there is no available figures about sales

The European market worth globally about two third of the sales of fair trade; the retail structure is dominated by far by supermarkets, followed by the specialized fair trade shops. There are also some new channels for the sale of fair trade products but that are in their first steps like schools and hospitals, public procurements and tourist structures.

1.2 The rest of the world

The fair trade marked is also settled in North America, in Japan, and in Oceania.

1.2.1 The North American market

This market is represented by the USA and Canada; it seems to grow faster Up to 2000 coffee is the only one product certified by Transfair Canada, but from 2000 the list of certified products have been extended (tea, sugar, cocoa bananas, mangoes, rice, quinoa, spices, roses, wine, and cotton are now traded in Canada); however coffee still represents the highest percentage of sales (34% in 2003 while tea, sugar, and cocoa and other certified food products represent less than 5% each). In the USA the growth rate for the sales of certified products has been evaluated to more than 300% between 2001 and 2005 ( M.J. Hiscox, 2007), and this rapid growth is attributed to the mainstreaming sales driven principally by coffee.

The sales in the USA and Canada are conducted by conventional operators and fair trade specialized companies. In term of values, the mainstream channel has carry out the important part of sales more than 70%.The growth rate for sales averaged the 55% and 45 % in Canada and the USA respectively making this market one of the most dynamic.

Globally the North American market is currently smaller than the European market that counts a greater number of countries involved The North American market is not the least because the USA and Canada are both big economies that can achieve further progress. The figures about the North American market are given by the table below.

Country	2005 (in millions of Euro)	2006 (in millions of Euro)	Increase (%)
Canada	34.8	53.8	54
USA	344.1	499.0	45

1.2.2 The Japanese market

The Japanese fair trade market is quite similar to the share of European new market. Globally, except Luxembourg and Spain, the fair trade network in Japan is one of the less dense. At the end of 2006, the country has just 26 licensees. However Japan has realized growth in the sales of products such as coffee and tea with an increase of 76% and 78% respectively in 2002 and 2004. Figures show that the total annual value of fair trade sales is around 6 to 7 US$ million a year. The trend of sales in the Japanese market is given in the table below.

Japan	2005 (in millions of Euro)	2006 (in millions of Euro)	Increase (%)
Sales	3.4	4.1	23

1.2.3 The Oceania market

This market is represented by Australia and New Zealand. The fair trade market in these countries is organized under the auspice of Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand (FTAANZ) established in 2003. Despite their recentness experience in the domain of fair trade these two countries are making efforts in term of sales due to a gradual involvement of operators. The products traditionally offered in this market are coffee, tea and cocoa; new range of products has been added since 2006 including for agricultural commodities cotton, quinoa, rice, and sugar, but coffee as in most of the market remain the important commodity for most of the operators.

The figures about the sales show the growing trend for this market. The Australian and New Zealand market also adopt the mainstreaming as major channel of distributing their products that is for large part certified. The supply is provided through the European market. The table below shows the evolution of sales in Australian and New Zealand market.

Table 5 : Combined Retail Sales for Fair trade Products in Australia & New Zealand

Product	2003	2004	2005	2006 (estimation)
Coffee	113,241	1,112,423	5,033,514	8,360,382
Tea	765	80,859	399,459	659,806
Cocoa products	34,418	281,619	592,801	997,689
All products	148,424	1,474,901	6,025,774	9,358,071

Globally, the fair trade sales in 2006 have been market by an encouraging growth but somewhat uneven according to the products; the FLO reports around € 1.6 billions of total purchase of fair trade certified products representing a 41% increase compare to 2005. The range of products in which the greatest increase have been achieved are cocoa (94%), coffee (53%), tea (41%), banana ( 31%) and also cotton with that have register much more demand than before. Although encouraging these figures are far to satisfy the pending offer of great number of certified producers. The small size of the fair trade market is not due to supply but to a limited demand. Oversupply has been noticed and it is one of the recurrent blame addressed to the fair trade system (Pedregal 2006). Actions toward extending the fair trade market would bring a second wind to the fair trade system. As mentioned before, the fair trade market is just limited to develop countries, but there are some developing countries marked by a economic dynamism in such a way that they can validly develop a viable fair trade market, so is the case of China among other countries. Various elements can be mentioned to illustrate China's ability for building up a fair trade market similar to those in developed countries.

2. China potential for launching fair trade market

2.1 Brief overview of the rural economy in China

Before the economic reforms the rural sector in China is managed under a central planned system where it represented one of the biggest economic activities (beside the heavy industry). During the late 1950's the household farms, agricultural cooperatives, and people's communes were the fundamental structures for the agricultural sector finally characterized by inefficiency (H. X. Wu). The reforms introduced in the sector have changed the production and the pricing system. The significant change in the production system was the shift towards individualization with the introduction of the household responsibility system. The pricing system has been gradually liberalized in such a way that the Central Control remains only for so called strategic products under the governor responsibility system. The recent reforms introduce the grain subsidies, the tax abandonment, the multiplication of source of funding institutions (bank and rural credits cooperatives), the mechanization, and the promotion of new varieties of crops and breeds of livestock, poultry and aquatic species. The Government has also invested 431.8 billion of Yuan to modernize the rural sector^4(*). These reforms have had large positive effects on the agricultural sector; output and income have consequently been ameliorated. Significant increase has been recorded in rural net income, about 6% each year since 2005 (china economic net 2007). Agriculture contribution to the GDP has however decreased from 26.9% to 12.5% between 1978 and 2006 due to the speedup in the industrial and the service sector but also to rural exodus. The rural sector still remains the biggest employer in China (with 365 millions people more than half of the rural population estimated to around 737 millions of people or 56% of the overall population in 2007). The rural sector and in particular agriculture is affected in different ways that can compromise its future

2.2 The environmental issues

The agricultural sector is the biggest user of water with more than 65% of national resources or more than 400 billions cubic meters but with less efficiency in its management (Bin Liu). The agricultural sector comes before the industrial sector that is also consuming more and more water (Lohmar B. and Hansen J. 2003). It stands to reason that agriculture is also the biggest soil user, as with more than 22% of world population, China has roughly 7% of world farm land (L. Berry, 2003) that is exposed to rapid urban and industrial expansions and also to the intensive use of chemicals.

The excess use of fertilizers consecutive to the floods droughts or desertification to compensate the lost of nutrients in the arable lands have contribute to leave agriculture in a kind of vicious circle, knowing that the chemical fertilizers and pesticides can have adverse effects on other natural resources (air, water) and species. The destruction of biodiversity in China seems to be one of the highest in the world^5(*). The rural sector is bearing the cost of the overuse of natural resources in term of access to water^6(*) or to arable land^7(*). The question of polluted cultivated land, air and water combined with the overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides raise another question that is the food safety and health concerns^8(*). Many cases of food poisoning have been reported these last years (Dominique Patton, 2006; xinhua agency, 2007; Neil Merrett 2007). The question of food safety is sometimes raised by china trade partners; some them can be interpreted as protective measures, but many other debrief real concerns. Some observers have considered that there is a two tiers food safety method in China; «Chinese food producers will just make two different products: the export products will be 100% safe, but they will cut corners on food for the domestic market and keep on poisoning at home -- otherwise, where will their profits come from?^9(*). Despite this apparent duality in food production, it seems that the effects of unsafe food production has been noticed as abroad as locally, and this can be attributed to a insufficient control during the production process: «The government does not attach enough importance to supervise the course of food production, or to help food producers increase their own capacity to ensure food safety. Most inspection work is about finding and punishing those food producers that break the law.»^10(*) It seems that the official efforts to ensure food safety is somehow limited and some actors of the distribution channel tend to introduce much more speculation.

2.3 Distribution channel of agriculture products in China

The distribution channel of agricultural product in China is organized around a 3-4 pattern^11(*). But this scheme seems to be quite dense in fact. Along the distribution channel intervene the collectors, the wholesalers and the retailers (Xiaoyong Zhang, 1999). A typical structure of distribution can be observed in the domain of citrus fruits where products pass from farmers to specialized cooperatives or associations, to State-owned trading enterprises, or to private-owned enterprises, to middleman before reaching the final consumer. The role of middlemen is sometimes controversial: «Middlemen play a very important role in fruit marketing but bring negative impacts on the sound development of the fruit market. For example, middlemen try to lower the buying price from farmers and to raise selling price to buyers so as to maximize the profits which might be several times more than that of farmers.»^12(*) The same observation has been made in the domain of fruit and vegetable the distribution marked by «[...] the markups charged by a superabundance of middlemen often leave Chinese produce with few price advantages over that from competitors»^13(*). Of course some aspect of this scheme can be at a certain extent out of date due to the ongoing reforms in the agricultural sector, it presents some advantages (organizational behavior) but small farmers are somehow harmed by the small return they get due to the multiple actors in the distribution channel.

The fair trade system plan is to provide the market with safe products whose production put more attention to human and environmental values. The fair trade system can indorse the official efforts and contribute to get solution to the issues raised above as China has potential to develop a big fair trade market.

2.4 Elements encouraging the establishment of fair trade market in China

We will focus here on the infrastructures and facilities that can favor the establishment of fair trade in China

2.4.1 Transport and energy infrastructures

China has developed, and is still developing transportation infrastructures for all kinds. Road, air, water, rail transportation networks are enough dense to ease transactions, on the one hand among Chinese cities, and on the other hand between China and Asian countries even with non Asian countries. The rural communication system is under continual improvement, to the existing 1.5 to 3 millions km of rural roads, the Government plans to build, by 2010 more than 2.4 millions km of rural paved roads in the eastern, western, and central rural regions (Asian Development Bank, 2006). Fair trade products can easily be transported from producing regions to big cities where the purchasing power is higher.

In term of energy, China is the second energy producer in the world; the authorities report that the «Construction of the electrified wire netting has entered into the fastest stage of development in history, with all major electrified wire nettings covering all cities and most rural areas in the country»^14(*). In 2006 the number of rural people living without electricity estimated to 1.4 million households or 6 million people out of hundreds of millions of people; this figure is certainly high but considering the total number of rural residents it induces high rate of rural electrification.

2.4.2 Commercial infrastructure

The rural areas are also marked by the development of Commercial infrastructure. The establishment of commercial and technological facilities contributes to smooth over the differences among regions and big cities. «[...] regional differences are diminishing due to an array of factors, including construction of new roads, availability of automobile and bus transportation, dissemination of mobile phones, television, the Internet and other communications to rural areas, reduced barriers to interprovincial trade, the emergence of national retail chains, and government policy that encourages investment and economic development in central and western provinces»^15(*). In the big cities, many major international supermarkets (Wal mart, Carrefour, Tesco, Pricemart, Metro, Vanguard etc.) are well spread with around 60% of the share of the market before their local counterparts (Lianhua, Suguo, Hualian, Bailian, Jingkelong etc).The supermarket channel is one of the main distribution routes of fair trade labelled products in many European and American countries (even if theoretically quarreled). In China both foreign and local supermarkets have not yet develop the sales of fair trade products (except few organic commodities like tea); in fact China is not yet considered to be a fair trade market by the fair trade organs. Next to supermarkets there are also the international and local fast food businesses very well attended that can also be sensitized in the sales of fair trade products. With its level of technology, China can be involved in processing variety of fair trade commodities locally produced or imported.

2.4.3 Existence of potential customers

China is among the countries with a great pace of economic dynamism resulting from the opening-up policies and various reforms initiated since the late 1970's. China ranks fourth, after the USA, Japan, Germany, and before The U.K in term of global GDP. The recent data predict a continuous growing trend of the GPD estimated to around 10.8. In 2008 the World Bank has indicated that the contribution of China in poverty reduction over the past 20 years has amounted to 75%. Also, there is an important expatiates community living and working in China. Many of them are already used to fair trade products in their home countries. Also many Chinese national have served abroad and may have tried out fair trade products. Figures show that since 2006 china represents the fifth country in the world in term of «millionaire households»; more than 310000 household are millionaire in China. Those figures reveal the existence of potential buyers of fair trade products, the latter can benefit from the sociopolitical environment favorable to ecological agriculture practices.

2.3.5 Organic trade background and tendency to favor ecological agriculture

Since 2000, the Ministry of agriculture acknowledges the importance of ecological agriculture^16(*). In these lines, the officials suggest «to develop ecologically modern agriculture, a fundamental change to the farming production model and way of life is essential»^17(*) in order to achieve a more balanced economic growth that is to build a "harmonious society" by narrowing the gap between rich and poor and curbing widespread environmental degradation (China daily, 2005). The Dazhangshan organic tea in one of the successful example of organic practices in China; China is also traditionally listed among the fair trade producing countries (namely for tea) but more can be done with other food products. Some initiatives for fair trade distribution exist; in Shanghai for instance, fair trade coffee from Ethiopia, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala and Bolivia are offered to customers by individual trader.

Due to the Central position of China in Asia, it is possible to develop a fair trade network with other Asian fair trade producing countries (India Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand. At the national level and just for agricultural products, the products that can be exploited range from tea, rice, cotton, banana, nuts and oilseeds, fresh fruits, dry fruits etc). About tea, we can notice that it is consumed in various forms such as hot or cold beverage, all seasons, it is clearly indicated to be used to launch the fair-trade market in china.

It can also be the case with rice with the fish farming system that can be exploited as another source of environmental friendly productions method. China can also open it market to fair trade products from African and Latin American producers, and if the fair trade feasibility studies about clothing are successfully conducted, they can be experienced in China that is endowed in the textile industry.

CONCLUSION

The fair trade system is getting more and more popular. Scholars, farmers, businesses, politics, and the like are getting aware and sensible to the fair trade message. Fair trade not only addresses the question of offering market opportunity to small farmers; it message goes far beyond this issue to embrace matter related to sustainable development through the environmental, and human rights aspects involved in its programme. Fair trade is a trade even if its method is somehow different. As such it links up producers, traders and consumers who form it market. The fair trade market is currently limited to the developed world due to historical and practical reasons namely the purchasing power of the consumers. The fair trade market is of course still wading through but it is limited to satisfy the supply that is why it is considered to be a niche market. Some developing countries can contribute to widen the fair trade market. It is the case of Chine that can, not only develop a fair trade market for its own products but also for products from other countries in order to achieve food safety issue, and balanced development the authorities keen to and to contribute to the global sustainable development. This country is facing serious environmental problems while it is more and more question to have rational use of natural resources. There are potential consumers of fair trade products; there are available facilities and infrastructures, and there is the willingness of official for ecologic practices in agriculture. A micro analysis can deepen the present macro approach based on agricultural commodities.

REFERENCES

Asian Development Bank, 2006. People's Republic of China: Sustainable Rural Transport Services

Bin Liu, China's Agricultural Water Policy Reforms Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Water Resources, China

Gavin, Fridell, 2004. The Fair Trade Network in Historical Perspective Canadian Journal of Development Studies, Volume XXV, No 3

FAO Economic and Social Department, 2001 Marketing and Distribution for Citrus Fruit in China: Present Situation and Future Prospects

Fred Gale, Ping Tang, Xianhong Bai, and Huijun Xu, 2005. Commercialization of Food Consumption in Rural China, USDA

Hiscox, M.J. and N.F.B. Smyth, 2007. Is There Consumer Demand for Improved Labor Standards?

Joon-Keun Park, Jin Hao, Suying Gao, H. Y, Lee 2007. Agricultural Trade between China and Korea

Keijiro Otsuka, Deqiang Liu, Naoki, 1998. Industrial Reform in China: Past Performance and Future Prospects; Oxford University, CLARENDON PRESS OXFORD

Krier, J.M. 2005. Fair Trade in Europe 2005, Facts and Figures on the Fair Trade sector in 25 European countries, published by FLO, IFAT, NEWS, EFTA.

Lian Yue, 2007. Can the US guarantee food safety in China? Lohmar B. Hansen J. 2006. China's Agricultural Water Scarcity: Effects on International Loren Brandt, Thomas G. Rawski, 2005. Chinese Industry after 25 Years of Reform Maya Roney, 2007. The Global Millionaire Boom, Business week

Pedregal, D. V., 2006. Le commerce équitable: UN des maillons du développement durable?

Silaen P. Smark C. J., 2006. The «Culture System» in Dutch Indonesia 1830-1870: How Rawls's Original Position Ethics were violated

Sujian Guo, 2003 The Ownership Reform in China: what direction and how far? Journal of Contemporary China 553-573 Von Reden, B. Dazhangshan Organic Tea Farmers' Association, Jiangxi, China: a successful Fair trade business

World Bank and State Environmental Protection Administration, 2007. Cost of Pollution in China: Economic Estimates of Physical Damages

Xiaoyong Zhang, 1999. Agricultural marketing in a country in transition: case of sweet potato products in Sichuan P.R. China.

* ² Claire V. shows that the book was published by Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820-1887) under the assumed name of Multatuli and the tile of the book is Max Havelaar of de Koffijveilingen der Nederlandsche Handelmaatschappij ( Max Havelaar or sales of coffee of the commercial company of the Netherlands)

* ⁴ This figure is back from 2007 in China Economic net (citing China daily): Meeting to chart rural development for 2008 http://en.ce.cn

* ⁵ WWF China reports that the destruction of biodiversity is more severe in China than in many other countries around the world. 4000-5000 higher plant species are critically endangered or near-critically endangered, representing 15-20% of China's higher plant species, significantly higher than the global average of 10-15%, WWF China http://www.wwfchina.org/english

* ⁶ Elizabeth C shows «that there is the problem of access to clean water. Although China holds the fourth-largest freshwater resources in the world (after Brazil, Russia, and Canada), skyrocketing demand, overuse, inefficiencies, pollution, and unequal distribution have produced a situation in which two-thirds of China's approximately 660 cities have less water than they need and 110 of them suffer severe shortages», http://www.foreignaffairs.org

* ⁷ The people daily reports that: «Due to over-development, large areas of the country's grassland and farmland are turning into sandy land. The acreage of desert land in China has reached 2.62 million square kilometers and is expanding at a speed of more than 2,400 square kilometers each year», http://english.peopledaily.com.cn

* ⁸ Join World bank and China studies reveal that «The poor quality of China's scarce water resources, which is increasingly attributed to nonpoint sources such as agricultural runoff and municipal wastewater, has a significant health impact. The impact is particularly high in rural areas, where about 300 million people lack access to piped water»; Cost of pollution in China, economic estimates of physical damages The World Bank and State Environmental Protection Administration, P. R. China, 2007, p 33

* ¹⁰ Bian Yongming, The Challenges for food safety in China,http://chinaperspectives.revues.org

* ¹¹ Joon-Keun Park et all 2007 explained that trade pattern by citing producers middlemen and/or processor, and finally exporters.

* ¹² FAO 2001, Marketing and Distribution for Citrus Fruit in China: Present Situation and Future Prospects

* ¹³ Hardasset investors.com , 2008, China Now a Major Player in Fruits and Vegetables

* ¹⁵ Fred Gale, Ping Tang, Xianhong Bai, and Huijun Xu, Commercialization of Food Consumption in Rural China, USDA,2005, p27.

* ¹⁶ "Facts have proved that ecological agriculture is an effective way to realize a coordinated development of the environment and rural economy," Vice-minister of Agriculture Zhang Baowen cited in people daily, Tuesday, June 06, 2000 http://english.peopledaily.com.cn

* ¹⁷ to Zhang Fengtong cited in «Survey of rural pollution start next year» in national Environment, 2007-12-14 http://n.ce.cn/National/environment