China has banned construction of new live-poultry markets in urban areas following a bird-flu outbreak in South Korea.

And the Agriculture Ministry said the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang have been put on alert.

The six provinces are relatively close to South Korea, which has confirmed two outbreaks of bird flu, with 236,000 chickens as well as pigs and dogs culled.