Beijing (BBC Monitoring International Reports) 08/29/2001 –China'sMinistry of Agriculture said China's import of farm produce has increasedwhile its export dropped during the first half of this year, a nationalnewspaper reported Wednesday.Farm produce import rose by 8.8 per cent over the same period of last yearwhile export was down by 0.09 per cent, according to the Beijing-basedEconomic Daily.Overall foreign trade in farm produce rose by 3.5 per cent while the ratioof its foreign trade volume to the country's total decreased by 0.04percentage points to 5.4 per cent, said the newspaper.Based on customs data, the ministry was quoted as saying that import ofsoybean, rice, corn and barley surged while export of wheat increased.China imported 5.972m tons of soybean during the period, up 69 per centover the same period of last year, mostly from the United States, Braziland Argentina.China's cotton import jumped by 70 per cent while export fell by 78 percent.Sugar import rose by 130 per cent while export dropped by 72 per cent.China's agricultural export to Asia went down by 2.3 per cent and exportto Europe increased by 13 per cent.Japan, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, and the United States were thelargest markets for Chinese farm producing, accounting for 36 per cent, 12per cent, 10 per cent and 7 per cent of China's total export.Import from United States, Australia and Canada jumped by 30 per cent, 11per cent and eight per cent respectively.The ministry blamed the slow-down of the world economy, surplus of farmproduce on the international market, and trade protectionism in Japan andthe Republic of Korea to China's negative growth in farm produce.Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0330 gmt 29 Aug 01