Mainland offers to help Taiwan ease banana glut
(Agencies Via Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-10-22 14:50
Taipei -- The Chinese mainland has agreed to buy 2,000 tons of
bananas from Taiwan to help the island ease a surplus of the
fruit.
The first batch of 300 tons will be shipped to Shanghai and
the northern city of Tianjin next week, Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.
The deal came as Taiwanese authorities were seeking to ease the plight
of banana farmers. Local authorities have led a promotional campaign by eating
bananas in public, and officials have encouraged using surplus bananas to make
buns and noodles.
Attracted by the vast Chinese market, many Taiwanese farmers have moved
to the mainland over the past decade to grow fruits and vegetables.
Last week, Chen Yunlin, head of the Chinese Communist Party's Taiwan
affairs office, promised closer agricultural cooperation at a farm forum with
Taiwanese opposition politicians.
Chen saw off Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan at the
airport of Xiamen in East China's Fujian Province, who was there for a trade
fair showcasing progress in across-Strait agricultural cooperation.
Lien
learned that the bananas from Taiwan had suffered sluggish sales. Farmers cross
the strait were worried about an over-abundant harvest this year and hoped the
CPC and KMT would work through their platform to solve the problem.
Early in June, the Chinese mainland bought 200 ton surplus bananas from
Taiwan and received applause from Taiwan farmers.
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