Scraps gathered from China's dining tables amount to CNY200 billion (US$32.6 billion) per annum and can feed 200 million people, according to a grain official, citing experts' estimates.

Speaking Monday at a ceremony kicking off a weeklong campaign to raise people's awareness of food-saving, Wu Zidan, deputy director of the State Administration of Grain, said the massive wastage of food could put a strain on the country's scarce water and farm resources.

Wu said that in addition to the food waste, around 35 billion kilogrammes of grain is wasted annually in storage, transportation and processing.

China, where food security is a major issue, feeds over one-fifth of the world's population while it has only 1/15 of the world's arable land.