ADVERSE weather this spring has led to poor harvests and food shortages in the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, affecting tens of millions of people, provincial officials said.
Spring plantings in the provinces had been stalled because of drought and frost, officials said, denying there was a famine.
In Sichuan, up to 10 million peasants have been classified as victims and are relying on government assistance.
The director of Sichuan's Disaster Relief Office, Chen Guanghua, said the provincial Government had earmarked about 90 million yuan (HK$82.53 million) to buy a total of 250,000 tonnes of grain, mainly rice, to help the victims.
Mr Chen denied peasants had begun fleeing their devastated home towns in search of food and stressed that Sichuan - the most populous province in China - had enough grain to feed its people.
In Yunnan, about six million people have been hit by the poor weather and are facing similar food shortages. Yunnan Civil Affairs Bureau spokesman Bao Mingdong admitted the situation was 'rather serious' and estimated Yunnan now faced losses of 350 million tonnes of grain.
