China is continuing to lose vast areas of arable land to construction, leading to concerns for the grain security of the world's most populous nation.

Rapid economic development saw the area of farmland drop to 122 million hectares last year -- 361,600 hectares down from 2004.

Per capita arable land was 1.4 mu, or 0.093 hectares, in October last year, down from 0.094 hectares a year earlier, Wednesday's China Youth Daily reported.

A national land survey (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) by the Ministry of Land and Resources showed land used for new construction totaled 212,000 hectares last year.

During the 10th Five-Year Guidelines (2000-2005), China lost 6.16 million hectares of arable land, an average 1.23 million hectares annually, due to economic growth and frequent adjustments to the agricultural production structure.

Accelerated industrialization and urbanization, expanding investment and reforestation also contributed to the decrease.

A Ministry of Land and Resources official warned that the 11th Five-Year Guidelines (2001-2006) called for a guaranteed 120 million hectares of arable land, meaning the country could afford to lose just 2 million hectares of farmland in the next five years.

Vice-Minister of Agriculture Fan Xiaojian said China could have problems feeding its 1.3 billion population unless the trend was curbed.

"With the current area of farmland, it is fairly difficult to guarantee the country's safe grain supply," he said.

Last year the government tightened restrictions on the acquisition of farmland for construction.

China's annual grain production is 484 million tons, but the government is aiming to raise this to 500 million tons.

(Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2006)