BEIJING - Food safety monitoring centers have been set up across China in 31 provinces, 218 prefectures and 312 counties, according to a government statement.

A statement from the national food safety work office under the State Council said safety tests on agricultural products had been expanded to 128 medium-sized and large cities.

A total of 101 varieties of agricultural products underwent tests in 5,130 qualified safety test institutions, it said.

The list of these institutions had been made public.

Chinese authorities have been revising food safety regulations, cracked down on violations of food safety laws and regulations, and issued new standards to ease nationwide concerns over food safety.

The statement said 165 sets of food safety standards were issued after revision last year and 15 sets, including one on food additives, would be issued in 2011.

Food safety has become a nationwide concern after a series of scares  involving food contamination and illegal use of prohibited ingredients and additives in food production.

The most recent major scandal involved a brand of edible oil, which was found to contain ingredients linked to cancer.

In 2008, melamine-tainted milk caused at least six infant deaths and 300,000 fell ill after they were fed with the contaminated baby formula.

The State Council set up a national food safety commission and appointed Vice-Premier Li Keqiang as its head in February 2009. Later that month, the National People's Congress Standing Committee adopted the Food Safety Law.