China will help Taiwan tackle the problem of glut production of fruit by buying 1,200 tons of Taiwanese oranges next week, a newspaper said Wednesday.
The Fujian Chaoda Group has agreed to buy 1,200 tons of Taiwan's surplus oranges. Taiwan will send five shipments of the oranges to Fujian Province starting Monday, the China Times said.
This is the fourth time China has helped Taiwan tackle glut production of fruit since 2006, when bilateral ties began to warm through contacts between Taiwan's Chinese Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party.
The 1,200 tons of oranges will be shipped directly from Taiwan to China, as Taiwan and China are scheduled to launch direct shipping on December 15, the paper said.
Taiwan produces about 210,000 tons of oranges every year between November and March. The glut this year has sent orange prices tumbling.
The Council of Agriculture plans to cut the land area for growing oranges from 9,500 hectares to 8,500 hectares and to subsidize some orange farmers for growing crops instead of oranges, dpa reported.
