An exposition of Muslim organic food was held recently in Beijing.

The event was organized by the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

"The food exhibited has two main distinctions - unpolluted and Muslim flavour," said Chen Jinyu, vice-chairman of the regional government.

The exhibits, ranging from beverages, cooked wheat, mutton products and fruits, are planted and raised without the use of pesticides or chemical additives in fodder. In addition, they are produced in accordance with strict Muslim traditional cooking methods.

The Diaoyutai State Guesthouse signed an agreement with the regional government for purchasing and co-operation in developing Muslim organic food at the exposition.

"The guesthouse is expected to be a window for our products," Chen said.

The Hong Kong-based Meixin Co Ltd also signed an agreement to purchase Muslim food from Ningxia.

More than 10 hotels and supermarkets have shown interest in the Muslim products.

Ningxia, located in northwestern China, is the only Hui minority autonomous region, with a population of 5.4 million, a third of which are Hui people.

Echoed by the "development of the West" strategy, Ningxia has initiated its organic food industry combined with its unique advantage of Muslim flavour as a driving force in its economy.

At present, Ningxia has bases covering 500,000 mu (33,300 hectares) of land for the growing of additive-free food .

With the improved living standard and the public paying more attention to health, organic foods have gained popularity in China.

Statistics show that 136 varieties of food from 742 Chinese food enterprises have been registered with the country's organic food trade mark.

China's output in the organic food industry totalled more than 48.2 billion yuan (US$4.9 billion) in 1999.

A large variety of organic foods have been developed in the past 10 years in China, including grain, fruit, animal products, aquatic products, dairy products, as well as beverages and soft drinks.

According to the China Green Food Developing Centre, there are 15 listed corporations that develop and produce organic or "green foods." The number of enterprises each producing 1 billion yuan (US$120.8 million) worth of food a year has reached 35. Meanwhile, a lot of products from well-known domestic firms such as Guizhou Maotai Group are applying to register organic products.

To guarantee the quality of organic products a management and supervision system has been established in China. The Ministry of Agriculture has issued 29 national standards for organic food. To further standardize the management of the organic food industry, China's Green Food Developing Centre is expected to soon complete the "Green" Food Administration Measures and issue detailed rules and regulations concerning various aspects of the sector.