"Buying or leasing land in foreign countries to produce agricultural products is only one of the ways of China can expand overseas," Chen Xiwen, general director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, told a news conference.

"We can also go to some grain-exporting countries to set up processing facilities, help expand local employment and provide technical and economic assistance."

China has been stepping up investment projects overseas to secure long-term food supplies, and some of its ventures in South America and Africa have been criticized for being a form of land grab.

-By Chuin-Wei Yap, Dow Jones Newswires; 8610 8400 7704; chuin-wei.yap@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires