Minister of Agriculture Du Qinglinon Tuesday braved freezing coldness Tuesday to inspect chicken farmers in Sanhe city, in north China's Hebei province amid the outbreak of chicken flu in some neighboring nations.

The agriculture minister voiced the confidence that the epidemic disease could be prevented in China, if early and strict preventive measures are taken.

During his trip in Sanhe city, the official chatted with some chicken farm owners and was informed of what kind of substantial measures local chicken raisers had taken to battle against any possible infection.

Currently, Chinese customs have beefed up efforts to prevent the entry of chicken flu from the neighboring countries. So far, there is no chicken flu case spotted in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2004)