China said Saturday it will halt poultry imports from North Korea in a move to prevent a deadly outbreak of bird flu from spilling over the border into its provinces.

All poultry products from the North were barred from entering China, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting a statement issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and the State Administration of Quality Supervision. Inspection and Quarantine.

Any North Korean poultry products seized by Chinese customs officials would be destroyed, it said.

Qin Honghu, a quarantine bureau official in Jilin province, said all 21 checkpoints at its border with North Korea had been ordered to bar all birds and poultry from entering or leaving the province, China Daily reported.