Western
China can expect both economic development and ecological
improvements in the coming five to 10 years as the country
standardizes its mining industries and implements ecological
protection plans.
The Ministry of
Land and Resources yesterday made public its long-term program
on the development of the west.
The program sets regulations for the use of land and resources
while stressing that the environment must never be sacrificed to
generate profits.
Within five to 10 years, the ministry predicted, a number of
large-scale mining industries equipped with advanced technologies
will be established in western China to efficiently use the area's
rich mineral resources.
The ministry has designated 10 major development areas for mining,
including the Sichuan Basin, the middle-stream valley of the Yellow
River and the middle and western sections of Qinling Mountain.
Only companies with advanced techniques and focusing on
high-quality mineral resources that are not geologically disruptive
will be allowed to work in the region, according to the
program.
Those companies who fail to fulfill their obligations to protect
the environment will be suspended from operating until their
practices are improved, said Pan Wencan, director of the planning
department of the ministry.
These 10 major areas will not be able to rely on governmental
allocations to prop up business but must attract investment,
too.
To
that end, local governments are working on new policies to attract
more investors.
Those policies may include giving bigger discounts on related fees
and allowing foreign experts to directly take part in governmental
surveys.
As
part of the program, many of the wild mountains should be
transformed into lush orchards producing high-quality fruits or
into grasslands to support many herds.
Tree and grass-planting plans will also be implemented along the
upper streams of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, the two
major water sources for China and where heavy soil erosion is
evident.
Discovering new underground water resources to alleviate water
shortage is also a goal.
In
other efforts, a monitoring system is planned to forecast
geological disasters such as earthquakes and landslides.
Western China boasts 86.7 percent of the country's unused land and
is undoubtedly the country's untapped treasure basin of mineral
resources.
About 86 percent of the country's hydra-energy, 61.5 percent of
coal and 71.9 percent of natural gas reserve may be there.
But the area's environment is especially vulnerable. Eighty percent
of China's total area with soil erosion, and more than 70 percent
of each year's geological disasters take place in western
China.
(China
Daily 10/11/2001)