China banned poultry imports from Thailand and Cambodia on Sunday to try to stop a deadly bird flu from spreading to the world's most populous country.
Shipments of live poultry and poultry products from the two countries already at Chinese ports would have to be returned or destroyed, the official Xinhua news agency quoted an order from the Agriculture Ministry and quarantine administration as saying.
Ships, aircraft, trains and other vehicles found carrying Thai or Cambodian poultry would be sealed up and cleaned, Xinhua said.
Xinhua did not say how much poultry China imported from the two countries, but official data showed that in the first seven months of 2003, imports of live animals, meat and meat products from Thailand were valued at $580,000 while those from Cambodia were worth $60,000.
Some health experts fear the bird flu virus, which has killed six people in Vietnam, could spark an epidemic worse than Sars, another disease that crossed from animals to humans. It killed about 800 people around the world last year.
Two people in Thailand are sick with bird flu while Cambodia, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea have all reported cases of it in birds.
The two biggest buyers of Thai chicken - Japan and the European Union - have already banned imports. Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Bangladesh and South Korea have also barred Thai chickens.