China has urged the international community to take joint actions to meet "mighty challenges in bolstering food security and fostering stable agricultural development," said a Chinese official at the Group of Eight (G8) agricultural meeting on Sunday.

At the meeting, Niu Dun, China's vice minister of agriculture, said that addressing global challenges to food security and mitigating the impact of the global financial crisis on agricultural development require concerted efforts of the international community.

In his five-point proposal, Niu noted that all countries should pay closer attention to food security, promote agricultural development and create favorable environment for tackling the financial crisis.

All countries should further engage in multi-tier international cooperation in agriculture and food, and share common but differentiated responsibilities as well as take well coordinated actions, he said.

Niu also said the international community "should build up capacity in monitoring and conducting early-warning on global food security".

"Developing countries should intensify South-South cooperation in food security, making it a critical platform for common response to food insecurity and financial crisis," he said.

Speaking of the development of biomass energy, the vice minister said that international cooperation mechanism should be established to reflect and evaluate the long-term implication of biomass energy development and develop policy guidance accordingly.

He called for joint efforts to enhance technical research and cooperation and strive for new breakthroughs in the comprehensive use of agricultural wastes such as crop stalks.

Niu also urged international cooperation in mitigating the impact of climate change on agriculture and emphasized anti-protectionism.

All countries "shall jointly oppose those discriminatory practices against foreign workers under the excuse of protecting domestic jobs," Niu said.

"We should work together to oppose trade protectionism in all manifestations and reject attempts to raise the market access threshold under various excuses and oppose all forms of investment protectionism that harm the interests of other countries," he added.

The vice minister also urged governments to demonstrate "the utmost sincerity in accelerating Doha Round talks and work for a comprehensive and balanced outcome on the basis of consensus reached in July 2008".

The G8 agricultural ministers gathered from Saturday to Monday to discuss issues ranging from world food security to the role of biofuels in curbing the harmful effects of climate change.

They also discussed the issue of world hunger, the fight against waste and speculation as well as efforts to increase agricultural production during their three-day meeting in Cison diValmarino in the Veneto region.

The G8 ministers were also joined by their counterparts from China, Brazil, India, Mexico, South Africa, Argentina, Australia and Egypt during their talks.

Italy, which holds the rotating G8 presidency, has pledged to make farm production the top concern of its national economy.

The meeting follows last year's G8 summit in Japan where world leaders promised to come up with concrete proposals to stabilize food prices and ensure food security.

(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2009)