China to promote cold storage facilities construction

BEIJING - China will advance cold storage facilities construction in agricultural producing areas to better serve the rural industry and raise farmers' incomes, said a circular issued on Monday.

Market entities will be encouraged to establish and renovate cold chain distribution centers in producing places, said the circular jointly released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Finance.

The country will improve services, including sorting, grading, primary processing, and distribution in these areas, and build digital and intelligent refrigerated storage facilities.

Leading fresh agricultural products producing counties will be given priority to establish refrigeration equipment, while qualified areas could build e-commerce industrial parks for agriculture based on their cold chain distribution centers, the circular said.

It added efforts will be made to promote the extension of cold-chain logistics service networks to rural areas and organize training on practical refrigeration techniques and operation management.