Shanghai's most famous farm produce broker, Zhao Sanbao, turned up at the Hongqiao Airport right at 4: 00 a.m. Thursday, to ensure that his millions of fresh shrimp got safely on board.

More than 10 percent of aquatic products in Shanghai, one of China's biggest cities, are brokered by Zhao's agency.

He says things have changed dramatically since the 1980s when he had to travel to bazaars and harbors where fishing boats gathered just to get a small basket of fish or shrimp.

Zhao is one of the first farm produce brokers in China. Most brokers are former farmers or fishermen who started out peddling their wares on foot.

The sale of farm produce was a monopoly of the government and state-run enterprises until the mid-1980s.

Up until then, farmers and fishermen had been banned from selling products to private dealers. Brokers like Zhao Sanbao were considered illegal and were hunted down by government administrative bodies for industry and commerce.

The country deregulated the aquatic produce market first in 1985, and then the market for other farm produce such as fruit, vegetable and meat.

However, the sale of grain and cotton have not yet been completely deregulated. Farmers are required to sell a certain amount of their output to the government, and the rest is allowed to be sold freely.

In northeastern Jilin Province, one of China's major grain- growing bases, thousands of farm produce brokers have helped farmers sell their products to the other parts of the country or even export it to Japan and the Republic of Korea.

Two years ago, the Chinese government made clear that farm produce brokers and non-governmental brokerage agencies have become major driving forces in the restructuring of the agriculture sector.

Zhao set up his brokerage agency last year, the first of its kind in Shanghai. His business now covers a vast area from northeast China's Heilongjiang Province to south China's Guangdong Province. He even has clients from Taiwan.

There are 900 million farmers in China but only 140,000 rural associations helping them sell their products. Brokers like Zhao are playing a very important role with regard to farmers' needs.

The municipal government of Shanghai plans to support the establishment of 100 brokerage agencies like Zhao's over the next three years.

"Farmers' income will rise with the increasing sales of farm produce, which, in turn, helps to stimulate overall domestic demand," said Li Yining, a renowned economist.

Lu Shunzhu, a former individual broker who dealt in chili for many years, invested 1.5 million yuan (181,000 US dollars) to set up a brokerage agency in Jilin. A number of local farmers have signed contracts with his company.

"A brokerage agency is more credible than individual brokers," said Chen Xiangjiu, a local farmer. "A company is easier to locate. "

Chen was referring to farmers' fears of being cheated by brokers floating from one village to another.

Despite this, most farm produce brokers in rural areas still work individually, and there is no specific legislation to regulate their activities.

The government is encouraging more brokers to participate in rural cooperative associations founded by farmers to sell their produce, said Ju Chuanlian, an official from the Ministry of Agriculture.

(xinhua)

Jiang Zemin, in his report to the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, said the Party's door is open to all positive factors of the society, including private entrepreneurs, foreign-invested firm employees, self-employed businessmen and freelance professionals, he also said that the Party should advance with the times. What's your opinion?