Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu met with former Italian Premier Romano Prodi on Thursday and discussed food security.

"China hopes to work with the international community on the global food security issue," Hui told Prodi during their hour-long meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Prodi served as president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004.

He came to Beijing for a two-day seminar on food security that was attended by more than 60 officials and scholars from more than 10 countries.

Hui said the Chinese government always makes feeding its 1.3 billion people a top priority and adheres to a food self-sufficiency principle.