Shandong, a major agricultural province in east China, is expecting a record wheat output this summer, a provincial official said on Friday.

Jia Wanzhi, Shandong's vice governor, said the province, the second largest grain producer in China after the central Henan Province, was expected to harvest 19.7 million tonnes of wheat this year, up five percent from last year.

"The province will surely see a good wheat harvest if the weather is good and no big natural disasters or insect epidemics occur in the next 10 days," Jia said.

The wheat plantation area increased by 46,000 hectares to reach 3.36 million hectares in the province, amid the country's continuous efforts to ensure grain output for its 1.3 billion people.

Last year, Shandong's grain output reached 41 million tonnes, which accounted for about eight percent of the country's total of 500 million tonnes.

(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2008)