China's Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) on Tuesday denied a report by the local newspaper Beijing Times that said all live poultry markets in large and medium-sized cities would be closed this year.

The newspaper said on Monday that the ministry planned to close all live poultry markets in large and medium-sized cities this year, citing an unnamed MOA official. The report was then carried by some major websites including the People's Daily website.

The ministry said the reports were not true. No officials from the ministry made that statement on Monday and the ministry is notable to make such a decision unilaterally because market supervision involves several departments.

The ministry reiterated that it had made careful plans on prevention of all kinds of serious animal-related epidemics. So far, there has been no major bird flu epidemics in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2009)