Shanghai Daily/Xinhua

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.

The Chinese Agriculture Ministry said the outbreak poses a serious threat to China because the two countries are on the same bird migratory route between East Asia and Australia. The ministry ordered the six provinces to send more staff to monitor borders and migratory bird habitats.

Officials in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning have been ordered to work around the clock to collect and send suspicious samples to the state bird flu laboratory, according to the ministry.

In a related development, Hong Kong announced on Monday it was suspending poultry product imports from the South Korea.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a statement saying the number of live-poultry markets needs to be "strictly restricted" and that existing markets in densely populated city centers will be gradually phased out.

"Local governments should inspect markets and those that fail to meet the standards will be suspended or closed," said the statement, which was posted on the State Council's Website.

It also warned against illegal poultry trade and urged daily disinfection of slaughtering areas, increased public education on bird-flu prevention and improvement of emergency contingency plans.

The statement highlights China's continued concern over the H5N1 bird-flu virus, which has ravaged Asia's poultry since 2003 and killed at least 153 people worldwide.