Chinese vice premier stresses autumn grain production

HARBIN, July 4 -- Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong has urged efforts to promote autumn grain production and remain highly vigilant against disasters to reap a bumper grain harvest this year.

Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during a research trip to northeast China's Heilongjiang Province that began on Tuesday and concluded on Thursday.

Noting that the output of autumn grain accounts for three quarters of China's annual grain production, Liu stressed the need to implement relevant supportive policies for autumn grain production, promote the application of new technologies, and guard against floods, droughts and other disasters.

At the site of a flood prevention project in Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang, Liu said that, as China has entered the main flood season, the country is facing increasingly severe flood control tasks.

It is important to carry out disaster prevention and relief work in a scientific and effective manner, and coordinate efforts on flood and drought control, he said.