Chinese vice-premier stresses ensuring grain security

BEIJING -- Chinese Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua on Monday urged efforts to implement the provincial governor responsibility system for grain security.

The governments at the provincial level should shoulder the primary responsibility for safeguarding food security and effectively strengthen grain production by expanding the sown areas and increasing grain output, Hu said at a video conference.

He also stressed comprehensively enhancing the protection of cultivated land and the control of its use, while resolutely preserving the country's "rice bowl".

More efforts will be made in grain reserves and circulation, grain purchasing, local grain reserves, and improving the capacity for emergency supply, Hu said.

Evaluation of the provincial governors' performance must be strictly implemented and the problems found should be rectified to fully ensure food security, he said.