BEIJING - China is encouraging more supermarkets to buy direct from food producers so to cut out the middlemen and benefit consumers and growers, a government official said Saturday.

The government wants supermarkets to buy 30 percent, compared with the current 15 percent, of their Chinese agricultural products directly from producers during the 2011-2015 period, said Chang Xiaocun, director of the Department of Market System Development under the Ministry of Commerce.

If this target is met, supermarkets would save about 15 percent on their purchase cost. It was envisaged that supermarkets would pass the savings on to benefit both growers and consumers alike, Chang said.

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The ministry would strengthen infrastructure construction, including the founding of large wholesale markets for agricultural products, improving trade, storage, and processing facilities, and the construction of frozen facilities.

It would also help facilitate communication between producers and sellers by establishing an online trading system for them, he added.