China's 50 percent of wheat in drought areas irrigated

About 50 percent of the wheat grown in areas affected by a severe drought in China, or 5.25 million hectares, have been irrigated, the Ministry of Agriculture said Friday (February 6).

As of Thursday, 10.5 million hectares of wheat in eight major wheat-producing areas had been hit by the drought, of which 4.32 million hectares were seriously affected, the ministry said in a statement published on its Web site.

The government on Thursday upgraded the emergency to "level one" from "level two" in the eight major wheat-producing regions, including the provinces of Henan, Jiangsu and Shanxi.

China plans to set up a RMB250 million (US$36.7 million) fund to provide assistance in areas affected by the drought.