In fact, blends containing palm oil are being sold in the market, but most of them are manufactured by small local factories, so their production is limited and their quality unknown. Despite reports in recent years by many authors in different countries on the biochemical and nutritional role of palm oil and its effects on human health, they are little known to the Chinese public. In view of the increasing demand for and consumption of palm oil, there is urgent need to inform consumers through the mass media of the oil's technical and nutritional properties. Consumption of edible oils in China is low compared with the industrialized countries. With rapid improvements being brought about through economic reforms, the living standards of Chinese people are rising, resulting in many changes in daily life, including increased consumption of oil.
Conditions are different for the other half of the population, living in the vast western area.
Statistical yearbook of China. Beijing China Statistical Publishing House, 1991. Liu Q. New trends of food industrial development during 1990s. The utilization of palm oil in China. Kritchevsky D, ed.