December 23, 2009

State subsidies boost China's agricultural production capacity

China has allocated RMB13 billion (US$1.9 billion) in subsidies for agricultural machinery purchases in 2009 and 3.43 million sets of equipment were purchased.

These statistics were given by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

Subsidies for agricultural machinery purchases accelerated the agricultural mechanisation progress and enhanced agricultural production capacity. In 2009, China's total power of agricultural machinery was estimated to reach 875 million kW, an increase of 6.4% year-on-year.

Based on pilot projects in parts of various provinces, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has developed an agricultural machinery purchase subsidy management system that ensures the implementation of subsidy policies, by processing online subsidy applications, reviews and approvals.

Despite the global financial crisis, China's agricultural machinery industry has  maintained a strong momentum in development this year. The output value of agricultural machinery enterprises above a certain scale reached RMB187.2 billion (US$27.42 billon) during this year's first 10 months, an increase of 23.3% year-on-year.