Page last updated at 12:36 GMT, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 13:36 UK
China 'may lease foreign fields'  Chinese rice fields Could rice
fields like these be replaced by farms abroad?  China could
lease overseas farming land to beat rising food prices,
according to reports from Beijing.  Soaring grain prices have
encouraged the ministry of agriculture to consider the scheme,
according to the Beijing Morning newspaper.  Chinese enterprises
would lease or even buy farmland in Latin America, Australia and
the former Soviet Union.  The land in production could replace
Chinese farmland lost to rapidly growing cities and industrial
zones.  Pilot schemes  The BBC's China analyst, Shirong Chen,
says the initiative builds on recent experience.   High
international grain prices and the pressure of domestic
inflation are the main factors behind the drive.  Grain prices
rose by 60 % on the global market in the first three months of
the year, adding to inflationary forces in a country which needs
to feed 1.3 billion people.  Mea