A development forum of Shanxi organizations for agricultural cooperation targeted at local agricultural cooperatives took place on Dec 18 in Taiyuan.

The forum was organized by Shanxi Jinqiang Agricultural Cooperatives Association (Jinqiang as follows), a cooperative union in the agriculture industry. Through furthering communication and cooperation, the forum aimed to seek solutions to bottlenecks in developing agricultural cooperatives and the economy in rural areas.

Scholars, experts and representatives of cooperatives shared their expertise in advancing supply-side structural reforms to agriculture, stimulating the rural economy and alleviating poverty by giving agricultural cooperatives more freedom.

Issues of food safety were also discussed at the forum.

"We are committed to producing green and high-quality farm produce so as to help ensure food safety in the province," said Li Bin, vice chairman of Jinqiang.

In recent years, there has not been much improvement in the incomes of Shanxi farmers despite a rapid increase in local agricultural cooperatives, as most cooperatives are small and have poor access to market information.

As a result, Jinqiang Agricultural Cooperatives Association, which consists of 15 cooperatives, was set up on July 18 to improve the operation and sales channels of farm produce for member businesses.

Chairmen of more than 200 agricultural cooperatives attended the event.