China seizes 210,000 tonnes of smuggled rice

BEIJING -- Chinese customs seized more than 210,000 tonnes of smuggled rice in 2014, worth 1.26 billion yuan ($205 million), an official said Saturday.

Zhu Feng, deputy head of the anti-smuggling bureau of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), said the GAC cracked 467 cases concerning rice last year in a special campaign against the smuggling of agricultural products.

The campaign was dubbed "Green Wind", and mainly targeting grains, frozen meat products, sugar, cotton and cooking oil.

Zhu said total value of smuggled products discovered during the campaign was 44.9 billion yuan, up 96 percent from a year earlier.

The illegal activities evaded taxation, hurt the domestic agricultural industry and also posed serious food safety hazards, according to Zhu.