The overall quality of China's farm produce has been improving, according to the latest quality monitoring report released by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The fourth report issued Monday showed that pesticide and medicine residue levels in 93.7 percent of the vegetables surveyed in 37 cities were up to international standards. This is a slight improvement on the previous survey.

About 98.3 percent of livestock inspected in 22 cities met safety standards for clenbuterol, a feed additive that facilitates the growth of lean meat but damages people's nervous and cardiovascular systems, said the report.

Meanwhile, 98.7 percent of aquatic products passed safety examinations for chloramphenicol, an antibiotic.

To improve the competitiveness of its farm produce, Chinese authorities have redoubled quality control efforts and hope to see farm produce exports reach US$38 billion by 2010.

Last year, China earned US$27.2 billion from farm produce exports, representing 3.6 percent of total exports and 3.2 percent of the world's total farm produce trade.

(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2006)