Zheng Guoguang, chief of the China Meteorological Administration says that due to climate change, the country’s production of major food crops could drop.
Although crops grow faster when the climate is warmer, yields decline.
Chinese scientists predict the average temperature will inch up about 2 degrees Celsius by 2050 compared with the 2000 level.
The CMA is currently developing measures to counter the adverse affects climate change could have on food supply.
Zheng says: "If no improvement were made to the current farmland, production capacity could drop by 10 per cent by 2030, when the population will peak at 1.5 billion."
Korean Peninsula: Cargo train all go
Relations on the troubled Korean Peninsula have reached a new milestone with plans to reopen a rail service between the two nations.
North Korea agreed in principle to formally open a regular cargo service across its heavily armed border with South Korea by the end of the year.
In May, the two Koreas conducted a one-time test run on the track, marking the first train crossings of the frontier in more than half a century.
China: Clean buses to roll in Shanghai
A fleet of hybrid, clean energy fuel-cell buses will begin operating in Shanghai by 2009.
A hydrogen refueling station for the buses has been built in the city's Anting area.
The development is part of a fuel-cell bus project by the United Nations Development Program and the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Vietnam: Guards jailed for inside job
Two Vietnamese prison guards have been jailed for allowing an inmate to have sex with a woman on death row so she could avoid execution.
The court in the northern city of Hoa Binh sentenced one guard to five years and another to three and a half years for the abuse of power.
Under Vietnamese law, death sentences for pregnant women must be commuted to life imprisonment.
Police investigators said the two police guards opened her cell several times to let the woman have intercourse with a male inmate. The woman's sister gave gifts to one of the guards worth 1.5 million dong or about $100 for their assistance.
（英語點津 Linda 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Marc Checkley is a freelance journalist and media producer from Auckland, New Zealand. Marc has an eclectic career in the media/arts, most recently working as a radio journalist for NewstalkZB, New Zealand's leading news radio network, as a feature writer for Travel Inc, New Nutrition Business (UK) and contributor for Mana Magazine and the Sunday Star Times. Marc is also a passionate arts educator and is involved in various media/theatre projects in his native New Zealand and Singapore where he is currently based. Marc joins the China Daily with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.
