A two-month drought is plaguing China's major wheat production areas, according to local agricultural and drought relief authorities.

The four drought-hit provinces of Henan, Anhui, Shandong and Hebei produce over half of the country's summer grain, 90 percent of which is wheat, and account for 22 percent of China's arable land.

Since October, a lack of rain and high temperatures have restricted wheat growth in the provinces.

In Henan, China's biggest grain-producing province, the dry weather has affected some 730,000 hectares of wheat, accounting for 10 percent of the province's total arable land.

In the eastern Anhui Province, about 667,000 hectares of wheat were hit, while in Shandong, the drought dried out over 1.4 million hectares.

In north China's Hebei Province, 547,000 hectares of wheat were affected by the drought.

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2010)