More than 40 percent of China’s arable land suffers from degradation, such as the impact of erosion, fertility losses, climate change and pollution, according to the official news agency Xinhua, said Reuters. The impairments reduce China’s food-producing capacity. China is the world’s most populous nation with 1.4 billion people. The government already has announced plans to tackle soil pollution, said to affect 3.3 million hectares, and now is planning work on degraded soils in order to provide more, high-quality food, said Xinhua.