China to Cut Sugar Output by 1.2 Million Tons

China plans to cut sugar output by 1.22 million tons next year in a bid to solve the oversupply problem in the domestic market.

This was disclosed today by a source close to a national conference on sugar production which ended recently in Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan in southwest China.

According to the source, China's sugar production will be reduced to 7.6 million tons for the next pressing season from 8.82 million tons for the 1998-99 pressing season.

The country will cut down sugarcane-growing acreage by 10 percent and reduce the sugar sector's economic losses by 1.5 billion yuan this year.

The conference, which was jointly sponsored by the State Economic and Trade Commission and the State Administration of Light Industry, was attended by representatives from the country's four key sugar producers -- Yunnan and Guangdong provinces and Guangxi Zhuang and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions.

China's current annual demand for sugar stands at seven million tons, compared with this year's output of 8.82 million tons. Falling sugar prices due to oversupply have caused sugar producers heavy losses that added up to 8.26 billion yuan in the 1996-1998 period.

China has 17 sugarcane-growing provinces and autonomous regions with 409 sugar mills. Guangxi, Yunnan, Guangdong and Xinjiang account for 83 percent of the country's total sugar production.

At the meeting, the four leading sugar producers agreed to make joint efforts to ensure the planned reduction of sugar production by cutting their sugarcane-growing area by 143,000 hectares this year, targeting at a reducing sugar output by one million tons in the 1999-2000 season.

This, according to analysts, is expected to help stabilize the sugar price at the Chinese market.