China will soon start a nationwide check of grain stock to provide the baseline for government policy-making in grain production.

"Every warehouse must be checked. Every inventory book must be examined. And the examination must be complete and thorough," Vice Premier Li Keqiang told a national video conference called to prepare for the job.

"As a development country with a population of more than a billion, grain has always been the first and foremost issue to maintain peace and stability," Li said.

China had its fifth consecutive summer grain bumper crop in 2008. Grain output rose 5.4 percent year-on-year to a record 528.5million tonnes in 2008.

"Only when we know the exact amount of our grain stock, can we make wise decisions in purchasing and stocking grain, and managing the grain stock to cope with the need of development and reform," Li said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 26, 2009)