China has reinforced its emergency food supply in response to increasing extreme weather events and natural disasters, an official said on Wednesday.

With over 1,200 grain market information monitoring stations established nationwide, the country is tracking changes in grain inventories, prices and sales to ensure that risks are promptly identified, said Liu Huanxin, head of the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration.

All food authorities at the provincial, municipal and county levels have developed contingency plans, and over 59,000 emergency food supply outlets have been put into use nationwide, Liu said.

He said that despite global food market fluctuations in recent years, China's food prices have remained relatively stable, thanks to consecutive bumper harvests, sufficient inventories and effective market regulatory measures.

Liu said that the country will continue to improve its minimum grain purchase price policy and make full use of its grain reserves to guarantee adequate supply and stable prices.

With a population of over 1.4 billion, China has made food security one of its top priorities. Its annual grain output has remained above 650 million tonnes for nine consecutive years. The country is now fully self-sufficient in wheat and rice, its two staple grains.

(Cover: Terraced fields in Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. /CFP)