Sowing the seeds of domestic success

Chinese agricultural exporters are beginning to address the problems related to entering their home market, as Xu Wei reports from Weifang, Shandong province.

After a decade as one of the main suppliers of garlic and ginger products in the Japanese market, Wang Xiuzhi decided it was time to diversify his trading base.

Wang's company, Genseida Trading Co, based in Anqiu of East China's Shandong province, has a market share of 20 percent in Japan's ginger trade, and about 33 percent in peeled garlic. In May, it launched its first product in the Chinese market - a type of fermented garlic flavored with chocolate - and also opened an online store on Taobao, the country's largest online marketplace. Wang, Genseida's general manager, knows the company has one major advantage over its competitors: Its products conform to Japanese standards.