China's farm produce exports reached US$24.56 billion in the first ten months of the year and is expected to exceed US$30 billion by the end of the year, China's Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.

The growth rate of the country's farm produce exports was 12.7 percent in the ten months, according to latest figures from the ministry.

Most Chinese farm produce exporters are small and medium-sized enterprises, said Yi Xiaozhun, Vice Minister of Commerce at an ongoing symposium on China's farm produce export.

The Ministry of Commerce has just provided export guidance booklets for Chinese planters of tea, garlic, mushrooms and chickens, and will officially launch a new website for trade of farm produce, said Yi.

From 2001 to 2005, China's export of farm produce grew at an average annual rate of 11.65 percent, ranking the fifth in the world, according to figures from the World Trade Organization.

(Xinhua News Agency November 30, 2006)