China reaps over half of winter wheat faster than last year

BEIJING -- China had harvested around 55 percent of its winter wheat by Monday, beating last year's halfway date by two days, official data showed Tuesday.

The country had finished reaping winter wheat on 167 million mu (about 11.13 million hectares) of farmland by Monday, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. China has been reaping the crop on more than 10 million mu daily for eight consecutive days after large-scale machine harvesting began on May 28.

Wheat harvest in Southwest China's Sichuan province and Central China's Hubei province almost came to a close, while that in the provinces of Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi and Hebei will soon be in full swing.

China is carrying out its summer harvest, which focuses on reaping winter wheat and oilseed rape, at full throttle. Traditionally, the summer harvest spans from May to late June, with grain output in the period taking up about a quarter of the annual total.