Economic Daily:

During the past few years, we have observed, that transportation in Tibet has undergone a big transformation. Would you please tell us whether the constructions of infrastructure in such large scales, like, the new railways and new roads, will affect the ecological environment in Tibet?

Luo Jie:

Thanks for your concern regarding the ecological environment in Tibet. As was mentioned by Mr. Norbu Dondrup, Tibet did not have a single decent road until the liberation. The modern roads, including, the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and many other roads that connect Tibet to the surrounding areas were paved at one of the most difficult times in the country. However, since the democratic reform, the transport network, including, Xinjiang-Tibet Highway, Yunnan-Tibet Highway, China-Nepal Highway, has taken shape quickly. At the same time, the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and Qinghai-Tibet Highway were renovated with asphalts. Additionally, a highway connecting Lhasa, capital of Tibet, and Gongga Airport, was also completed. Moreover, in recent years, Tibet's transport system, consisting of highroads, railways and airlines has developed well. The mileage of its highways open to traffic reached 97,800 kilometers. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway and Lhasa-Shigatse Railway have been completed, while the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway is currently laying rail tracks. There are 92 air routes in Tibet's five airports from both home and abroad.

However, neither infrastructure constructions nor resource exploration will shake Tibet's determination to prioritize environmental protection as its top concern. The major constructions should all abide by the eco-friendly evaluation system, and the counter-pollution facilities should be designed, built and put into use at the same time with the main projects. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, a project best known for its eco-friendly endeavor, can be one such model.

The Tibet Plateau is located in the core area of the third pole of the Earth. Protecting the ecological environment of the Tibetan Plateau has important strategic significance for safeguarding the global ecological balance. Over the years, the central government and the local government of Tibet have always regarded the protection of the plateau ecological environment as a top priority. In this regard, we have also taken many specific measures:

First, we have increased our efforts to protect the local ecological environment. Tibet has formulated the "Measures of Tibet Autonomous Region's Implementation of Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Nature Reserves" and the "Measures on Supervision and Management of Ecological Environmental Protection in Tibet Autonomous Region." We have issued a number of guidelines concerning ecological conservation, such as, "Opinions on Building a Beautiful Tibet" and "Opinions on Building an Important National Shield for Ecological Security and Accelerating Ecological Progress." Those legitimate the conservation of natural reserves and wetlands, the protection of wild animals, the prevention and control of desertification and the return of farmland to forests and grassland.

Second, the total area of the ecological protection zones continues to expand. Since the establishment of Mount Qomolangma National Nature Reserve in 1988, Tibet has established 47 nature reserves with a total area of 412,200 square kilometers, accounting for 34.35 percent of the region's territorial area. In addition, 22 ecological function protection zones have been built, including one national-level zone. 36 counties have been included in the national key ecological function protection zones; and four national-level scenic spots, nine national forest parks, 22 national wetland parks and three national-level geological parks have been established. China continues to increase investment and implement ecological compensation policies for the costs of ecological environmental protection. Since 2001, the accumulated compensation funds have reached 31.6 billion yuan for forests, grasslands, wetlands and key ecological functional zones.

Third, is the continued restoration of biodiversity. Tibet has successively implemented the ecological security shield protection construction project and the afforestation project in the basins of the Yarlung Tsangpo, Nujiang, Lhasa, Nyangchu, Yalong, and Shiquan rivers. The effect of the ecological protection initiatives has been remarkable. At present, the forest covers 12.14 percent of the whole region, and the forest area is 16.02 million hectares, including forest land, shrub land and other woodland. The comprehensive vegetation coverage of natural grassland in the region reached 45.9 percent, the natural grassland area reached 88.93 million hectares, and the wetland area reached 6.53 million hectares. Tibet has 141 kinds of nationally and autonomous region-protected wild animals, 38 kinds of nationally protected plants, and 22 unique bird species. The important ecosystems in Tibet have thus been effectively protected.

At present, the structure of the various ecosystems in the Tibetan Plateau is stable, the ecological quality is stable and positive, and the quality of water, gas, sound, soil, radiation and the ecological environment are also in good condition. The water quality of major rivers and lakes such as the Yarlung Zangbo River and the Nujiang River is maintained as either Class I or Class II, and the quality of drinking water sources is good. The source areas of big rivers, grasslands, lakes, wetlands, natural forests, water ecology, geological relics and biodiversity are effectively protected. Most of the areas are still in their original state. Tibet is still one of the areas in the world with the best environmental quality. Thank you.

Hu Kaihong:

Today's press conference ends here. Thank you.

By Li Xiaohua, Cui Can, Gong Yingchun, Liu Sitong, Wang Yanfang, Huang Shan, Li Jingrong, Zhang Jiaqi, Wu Jin, Zhang Rui, Li Yang, Zhang Chen, Wang Yiming, Li Shen, Wang Wei, Wang Qian, Yuan Fang, Jay Birbeck, Jennifer Fossenbell