Yanqing county government has stepped in to aid local bell pepper farmers who were facing financial ruin, as they were unable to transport their harvest because of snow-blocked highways caused by the recent early wintry weather. 

The swift change in the pepper farmers' situation came after the local government appealed for buyers and wholesalers across the capital to help reduce the pepper stocks, which were in danger of going rotten.

There was a glut of 200,000 kilograms of peppers stranded in Yanqing with no buyers, the Beijing Daily reported Monday.

The government began its great pepper sales push on November 4, the report said.         

A media officer from Yanqing township, surnamed Wang, told the Global Times that after the cooperative efforts of supermarkets, media, and government, there are now only  around 5,000 kilograms of colored bell peppers left.

"It won't be a problem to sell the rest of the peppers now," she said. However she would not answer further questions regarding why the local government stepped in.

Hou Genxiong, from Dongchun village in the county, told the Global Times that the village previously had 50,000 kilograms of peppers and now there is only around 4,000 left.

Like other local farmers, Hou said that the 8,000 kilograms of peppers she planted in her greenhouse could not be transferred outside of Yanqing because of the heavy snow on November 4.

"Some plastic-made greenhouses collapsed and the roads that connect Yanqing to elsewhere were blocked because of the snow," she said, "I thought I would not make up the cost."

Hou said that peppers normally sell for 1.4 yuan per kilogram and now they have to sell them for 8 yuan ($1.3) just to cover the costs.

Another farmer, He Aizhong, in Daozhuang village said the bell peppers they grow are mainly exported overseas.

"They are not very popular in China since the price is a bit more expensive than the regular peppers," He said.

Yu Ping, the manager of the Fresh Produce and Processing Center of Beijing Chaoshifa Chain Store Co, Ltd, told the Global Times that they purchased over 15 tons of peppers Friday under the urging of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce, and would buy more later. 

"We did purchase peppers from Yanqing before, but not in this huge quantity," he said.

The price of the peppers was also reduced to 1.5 yuan instead of the previous 2 yuan per kilogram for quick sale. Yu noted that the pepper is a traditional vegetable produced in Yanqing and the quality is good.

The vegetable does not have a high demand in China, said Yu, as many Chinese do not know how to cook it.

"These peppers normally appear on Western food menus for it is good to eat with salad," he said.

Apart from the supermarkets and individual vegetable wholesalers, the logistics department of Yanqing township bought 2,500 kilograms for the staff canteen, the Beijing Daily reported Tuesday.