STATISTICS released by the China Refrigeration Association show that the mainland's population stands to benefit greatly from the development of the nation's reefer industry, according to a Xinhua report.

The article pointed out that due to the non refrigeration of perishables more than 100 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables valued at CNY75 billion (US$9.06 billion) are destroyed each year during transportation in China, the report said quoting recent statistics.

Additionally there are 30 million tonnes of domestics fowl products, 20 million tonnes of eggs, six million tonnes of milk products, 61 million tonnes of fruits, and 35,000 tonnes of vegetables that require refrigeration when transported each year in China.

The need for reefers will also be more pressing as China's Ministry of Railways has forecast that in the 10 years to 2010, the volume of perishable items carried by trains will increase from 19 million tonnes to 75 million tonnes, while the annual capacity for refrigerated road transport will grow from 12.58 million tonnes to 17.67 million tonnes.

The report explained that there are currently only 8,000 rail carriages with refrigerated facilities in China, but emphasised that more modern reefer units are urgently needed.

The news wire also said that rotten food on the mainland will be less common than in the past as China is expected to become the largest reefer producer in the world with an annual output of 40,000 TEU next year.