国内英语新闻:China faces food security challenge despite high output

HAIKOU, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- China still faces increasingly greater pressures in ensuring food security despite a stably growing grain output, a senior official said Saturday.

With rapid industrialization and urbanization, which have improved people's living standards, the country's food consumption level and structure have changed, posing increasing pressures on grain production, said Li Jiayang, vice minister of agriculture.

Globally, the grain output also grew at a slower pace than that in population, Li said at a forum held in Haikou, capital of island province of Hainan.

The world's grain output rose at an annualized rate of 1.16 percent in the last 25 years, compared to 1.46 percent in population growth, Li said.

But the country's food security situation has been improved, Li said, noting that the grain output has increased fourfold since 1949, though planting areas almost stayed unchanged.

China's grain output rose 4.5 percent year-on-year to a record high of 571.21 million tonnes in 2011, marking eight consecutive years of growth.