ABSTRACT
China's agri-food market has experienced a gradual liberalization. The markets have been moving from a state-owned system to a more diversified system, where private sectors have been taking over the market since 1985. China had a restrictive state-run food system in the cities from 1950 until 1980. Some foods were available at fixed prices, others required ration cards. Supermarkets are having a positive impact on rural China by encouraging the establishment of farmers' professional association and prompting farmers to raise quality standards and fulfil contracts. The supermarkets are now expanding into towns in west and north China. Thus there are at the moment two retail systems operating and growing in parallel, the modern and the traditional. Already there are plans to convert some wet markets into supermarkets. Both systems are supplied by small-scale producers, but the modern system is supplied from producers organized together into production bases by specialist wholesalers or processors.
