$147b of food to be imported in 5 years

WUHAN: More overseas food products will be seen in the domestic market because imports are expected to reach 1 trillion yuan ($147 billion) in the next five years despite the worsening global financial crisis, industry experts said yesterday.

The crowded 17th Chinese food exposition and trade fair that ended in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, yesterday raised that possibility further.

The trend of rising food imports is inevitable, said Wang Wenzhe, chairman of China National Food Industry Association, which sponsored the fair. But "the most important thing is that we are better off than we were 30 years ago", he said.