China's rural cooperatives report rising sales in H1

BEIJING - China's rural supply and marketing cooperatives in the first half of 2019 saw their sales reach 2.22 trillion yuan ($319.6 billion), up 6.6 percent year-on-year, the latest data showed.

During the period, aggregate profits of enterprises in the system stood at 18.31 billion yuan, up 3.1 percent year-on-year, according to the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives (ACFSMC).

Enterprises in sectors of agricultural capital, farm produce and consumer goods saw their aggregate profits increase steadily, ACFSMC data showed.

In the first half of the year, non-cotton products registered active operation, while farm produce sustained rapid sales increase, rising 16.8 percent year-on-year to 80.93 billion yuan and accounting for 36.1 percent of the total sales.

Retail sales of consumer goods by cooperatives increased 7.8 percent in the first half to reach 784.69 billion yuan, ACFSMC data showed.

China's supply and marketing cooperatives form a key platform for the distribution of agricultural products in rural areas.