A farmer checks newly-harvested wheat in Tancheng County, Linyi City, east China's Shandong Province, June 23, 2021. China reaped another bumper summer harvest in 2021, the country's agriculture minister said Wednesday. This has laid a solid foundation for ensuring that the total grain output this year would remain at above 650 billion kilograms, Tang Renjian, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said during an inspection tour in the city of Sanhe, in north China's Hebei Province. (Photo by Zhang Chunlei/Xinhua)

SHIJIAZHUANG, June 23  -- China reaped another bumper summer harvest in 2021, the country's agriculture minister said Wednesday.

This has laid a solid foundation for ensuring that the total grain output this year would remain at above 650 billion kilograms, Tang Renjian, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said during an inspection tour in the city of Sanhe, in north China's Hebei Province.

Despite unfavorable weather conditions, pests and diseases, China's summer grain output reached an all-time high, Tang said.

The planting area of wheat harvested this summer reversed a declining streak of four consecutive years, the minister said.

Tang attributed the bumper harvest to China's efforts in developing high-standard farmland, adding that the yield per unit area of land also hit a record high.