THIRTY-THREE officials from embassies and consulates from 27 countries visited Qingdao, Weifang, and Liaocheng between Nov. 17 and 19, inspecting production bases for exported food.

    The trip was organized by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China.

    The group held a conference discussing their investigation Nov. 18 in Qingdao.

    The officials visited the export and import food inspection and quarantine station at Qianwan Port as well as workshops at food processing factories.

    In recent years, Shandong-made food products have become popular in the domestic market. They are also sold to more than 190 countries and regions.

    In 2009, Shandong exported US$13.1 billion in food products, ranking first in China.

    The province’s exports of seafood, vegetables, peanuts, poultry and fruit top the country.

    (Chen Ting, Zhou Jianliang)