More arable land 'needed' by 2030

The country's grain harvest is likely to fall considerably because of global warming and it will need an additional 10 million hectares of arable land to feed the people by 2030, a top climate official said yesterday.

"Global warming may cause the grain harvest to fall by 5 to 10 percent, that is by 30-50 million tons, by 2030," said Zheng Guoguang, head of the State Meteorological Administration.

And since the population is expected to peak at 1.5 billion in 2030, 200 million more than now, the country would need to produce an additional 100 million tons of food to feed them.