The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, recently announced it would raise the minimum state purchasing prices for rice in major rice-producing areas by up to 10.5 percent in 2010.

The move was aimed to encourage farmers to increase grain production and help grain prices rise in a stable manner, said the NDRC.

In 2004, China started buying grain from farmers at state-set minimum prices when market prices drop below a specified point in order to encourage grain production.

The NDRC already raised the minimum state purchasing prices for wheat in major production areas at the beginning of this year.