China is a large food-producing and consumer country. The issue of food for its people has always been of major importance. China's grain, meat, aquatic products and fruits have reached or exceeded the word's average in per capita output. The food industry has become one of the most important industries in China, and ranks first for the total output value among all industries, accounting for 10% of GNP. However, China's food industry is still less developed on the whole. The ratio of food industry to agriculture in total output value is only 0.43 : 1, and the structure of the food industries is not particularly efficient. Most of the current food-processing methods are stil1 the old traditional ones. Owing to the limited capacity of storage and processing, the magnitude of postharvest losses in fresh fruits and vegetables is estimated at 20-50%, depending on the commodities. There are some technical problems, such as large consumption of raw materials and energy, low utilization rate of materials, and shortage of special-purpose varieties for processing, etc.
Now, China's food industry is being faced with major challenges, as well as plentiful opportunities. The Chinese government should pay close attention to the food industry's development and promote the intensive processing of grain and all types of farm, livestock and fish products. This can be achieved by increasing the food industry's input and improving the conditions for food production, optimizing industries and products structures, applying high technology and industrializing material processing.