Shanghai, the leading commercial center of China, suspended all bird trading starting from Wednesday amid efforts to prevent bird flu.

All bird markets are ordered to shut down and business people dealing with birds are required to carry out such measures as immunization, disinfection, quarantine and ventilation, according to a notice issued Tuesday by the Shanghai Industry and Commerce Bureau.

Violators will be punished according to law, the bureau said.

The city will decide when to resume bird trading in light of nationwide bird flu situation, it said.

Shanghai is in a peak migration period of migratory birds and quite a number of birds in local markets are wild. Some of them even come from bird flu outbreak areas, an expert said.

Similar practices were adopted in Beijing earlier this month.

In compliance with the central government's measures against bird flu, Beijing has, as of Nov. 7, suspended poultry trading in all its 168 markets.

So far, China has reported about 30 outbreaks of bird flu in 11 provinces and regions and confirmed three human cases of bird flu.

Source: Xinhua