Urbanization 'threatens food security'

BEIJING - Blind and excessive land exploitation in China's urbanization may partially contribute to the sharp decrease of the country's arable land and pose a threat to food security, a senior official has warned.

"We should not excessively turn farmland into urban areas. Grain security should be given priority," Yang Weimin, secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planning body, said at a forum about urbanization strategy and planning over the weekend.

Yang said the country has approved more than 1,500 national- and provincial-level industrial development zones, the area of which account for nearly 1 million hectares.