Chinese local governments are working to help snow-stricken regions find a market for citrus fruit that piled up in warehouses when severe weather hit many areas before Lunar New Year.

The disruptions came just as oranges and tangerines were ready to hit the holiday market, a top sales season for the fruits that are produced mostly in southern China.

"The year 2007 was a big harvest year, but the unexpected snow was threatening our hopes of a good market return," said Ouyang Pengcheng, a fruit farmer in Ganzhou city in eastern Jiangxi Province.

In Ganzhou, which is renowned for its oranges, about 160,000 tons of the fruit piled up in warehouses.

Ouyang had reserved about 50 tons of oranges for New Year, when the market is normally huge and prices are high. The storms upended his plan.

"One of my truck-loads of oranges left for Beijing on January 20 but arrived there only on February 4. The peak time (for sales) was completely wasted on the road. By February 6 (New Year Eve), I had 300 tons of oranges in stock," he complained.

To address the situation, the Ministry of Commerce issued an emergency circular to government departments in 13 provinces and municipalities including Beijing and Shanghai, ordering them to "encourage fruit juice producers, wholesalers and agents to purchase more oranges from Jiangxi".

In response, supermarkets in Beijing and other major cities immediately increased buying of oranges from Ganzhou. They set up stalls and launched promotions to attract customers.

Also, 156 community markets in Beijing opened orange stands especially for fruit from Ganzhou, and 300 popular restaurants in the city increased servings of free oranges to diners. The efforts meant 32 tons of Ganzhou oranges were sold in the capital's catering business.

Statistics from the Beijing Commerce Bureau said that the inventory of oranges in Ganzhou fell from 160,600 tons on February 5 to 88,100 tons on February 17. Most of them were sold in large cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong and Fujian.

Ouyang thanked the government, saying that his orange stock had been halved and he had sold nearly four tons a day, so his inventory could be cleared in about a month.

Local governments in central Hunan Province and southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region also sought to help fruit farmers sell their crops.

Juicy, sweet oranges can normally be preserved for two to three months, so the government is calling for ongoing help for the disaster areas.

"It is timely help, as well as a way to fill market demand. I believe it could be a new disaster relief model for the future," said Miu Lanying, magistrate of Xunwu County of Ganzhou.

(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2008)