March 6, 2009

China's Haikou, capital city of Hainan Province, plans to spend more than RMB400 million (US$58.48 million) in the construction of a grain logistics park, which covers a land area of 300 mu, according to a report on March 5.

The park consists of three function parts with a grain reserve depot, a grain wholesale market and a grain processing factory.

The local grain industry was hit as the global economic downturn extended its influences to the Chinese economy since 2008, an official from the city grain bureau said. The city's self-sufficiency rate is expected to be merely 18.6 percent in 2009.

To counter this problem, the government has established a grain market monitoring mechanism and it will start its grain emergency pre-plan once there is a shortage of grains in the city.