Learn mandarin -

IV. Territorial Control and Rural
Environmental Protection

Territorial control forms part of China's work in implementing the
sustainable development strategy. Since the start of the reform and
opening-up era, the Chinese government has carried out territorial
control on a large scale.

-- New progress has been made in territorial control planning. In this
work the Chinese government has formulated a sequence of national,
trans-provincial and key-regional territorial control plans, such as the
National Program for Overall Land Use Planning, the National Program for
Afforestation, the National Plan for Marine Development, the National
Program for Water and Soil Conservation, the Comprehensive Plan for
China's Seven Major River Valleys, the Plan for Economic Development in
the Three Gorges Area, the Economic Plan for the Yangtze River Delta and
Areas Along the River, Key Points of the Economic Plan for Northwestern
Areas, and the Resources Development and Environment Protection Plan for
the Juncture of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia. Some provinces and
cities have also drawn up or revised local territorial control plans and
the overall plan for land use. By the end of 1995 the overall plan for
land use had been 60 percent completed at the provincial level, 69
percent at the city (prefectural) level and 63 percent at the county
level.

-- Many achievements have been made in research on territorial control.
To help formulate the Ninth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and
Social Development and the Outline of the Long-Term Target for the Year
2010, the Chinese government, proceeding from realizing coordination and
sustainable development of the economy, society, population, resources
and environment, has organized research on vital issues such as the
development of territorial resources and environmental control, the
overall plan for the national territory, and how well mineral resources
can satisfy the demands of the national economy. It has also completed
the Major Issues on the Development of National Territorial Resources and
Environmental Control During 1996-2010 and other research reports on
special subjects. The government has laid down the overall framework of
optimizing the development and control of territorial resources, the
regional development strategy and distribution of territorial resources
exploitation, as well as the targets and measures of territorial control
and environmental protection.

Notable successes have been attained in the harnessing of main rivers and
lakes. Since the foundation of New China in 1949 the Chinese government
has taken comprehensive exploitation and control of major rivers and
lakes, with emphasis on the prevention and control of flood and
waterlogging, as an important task of water conservancy construction.
During the Eighth Five-Year Plan period, on the middle and lower reaches
of the Yangtze River, the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and on the
Huaihe, Haihe, Songhua and Liaohe rivers and Lake Taihu, the main dikes
were heightened and reinforced, waterways were cleaned up, and flood
diversion projects were built. The construction of a group of key
projects for water control and other uses were completed or started. To
compensate for lack of water resources in northern areas, the Chinese
government vigorously promoted the planning and construction of
water-diversion projects between different drainage basins. In November
1995 it sponsored an overall feasibility study of the middle, eastern and
western lines projects for diverting water from south to north.

The Three Gorges Project is a gigantic, trans-century project for
harnessing and developing the Yangtze River. When it is completed, floods
on the upper reaches will be effectively controlled and areas on the
middle and lower reaches will be able to improve their anti-flood
capability, thus lessening the harmful effects on the ecological
environment. Hydroelectricity, which will be the energy discharged by the
project, causes much less pollution than coal-burning power plants. The
government has organized experts to work out the Report on the Impact of
the Three Gorges Project on the Ecology and Environment, and
Countermeasures, and has approved the Environmental Impact Statement of
the Three Gorges Project. The government will adopt a sequence of
measures to minimize the unfavorable effects on the ecology and the
environment that could be caused by the Three Gorges Project.

-- Land preservation, exploitation and control have been promoted on a
full scale. In order to put cultivated land under proper protection,
basic farmland preservation areas have been delimited all over the
country, in accordance with the Regulations on the Protection of Basic
Farmland. By the end of 1995, 2,100 units at the county level had
finished the work, with well over 70 percent of farmland put under
effectual protection. Planned management of the land to be used for
construction has been strengthened, putting the total area and makeup of
such land under proper control. Random occupation of farmland has been
curbed to some extent. In 1995, farmland used for construction was 20.8
percent less than the previous year. In recent years, the government has
formulated the Key Points of National Planning for Desertication Control
During 1991-2000 to speed up the desertification prevention and control
project. It is planned that 6.667 million hectares of desertified land
will be treated over ten years. The development of 20 key counties, nine
experimental areas and 22 demonstration bases of the national
desertification prevention and control project has been brought into line
with the development plan of the national economy. During the Eighth
Five-Year Plan period 3.759 million hectares of desertified land were
tackled in a comprehensive way. The Chinese government also devotes much
attention to water and soil conservation. It has effectively prevented
soil erosion and improved the ecological environment and agricultural
conditions. At present, 25 key soil erosion control areas have been
established at the national level. Water and soil conservation projects
are carried out in seven big river valleys. In more than 10,000 small
river valleys with serious soil erosion, problems concerning mountains,
rivers, farmland and forests are tackled in a comprehensive way. Soil
erosion has been checked in a total area of 67 million hectares, and a
great number of water and soil conservation projects have been completed,
making eroded soil decrease by 1.1 billion tons every year and water
conservation capacity increase by 18 billion cubic meters. In the
comprehensive soil erosion control area in the Loess Plateau, a total of
15 million hectares of land have been treated -- 30 percent of the soil
erosion area -- with over 300 million tons less silt flowing into the
Yellow River every year. Since the publication of the Regulations on Land
Reclamation, most of the provinces and cities have worked out procedures
for implementation of these regulations and some dozen provinces and
autonomous regions have put into effect procedures for raising funds for
land reclamation and for the use and administration of these funds. As a
result, remarkable progress has been made in the country's reclamation of
discarded land. From 1987 to 1995 a total of about 3.5 million hectares
of land were reclaimed, among which 600,000 hectares had been waste land.
In 1989 the experimental work of land reclamation was carried out in
major mineral-producing provinces. In 1995 construction of three
national-level reclamation demonstration zones was started in sunken
areas of coalfields, while the national reclamation technical standards
were stipulated. Tongshan County in Jiangsu Province invested 56 million
yuan to reclaim 6,600 hectares of land, basically balancing land
reclamation with land use.

-- The ability to combat natural disasters has been improved. The Chinese
people have accumulated abundant experience in their protracted struggles
against natural disasters, in which they laid down principles like
``putting prevention first and combining prevention and control,'' and
``combining pre"ivention and rescue.'' A working system has been
primarily established to avert all kinds of natural disasters, and a
contingent of experienced scientists and researchers of various
disciplines has been organized and monitoring stations and networks for
main natural disasters have taken initial shape.

China has traditionally been an agricultural country. In developing
agricultural production, the government attaches great importance to
rural environmental protection.

-- Achievements have been made in eco-agriculture. The government has
taken the development of eco-agriculture as an important means to realize
the coordinated development of the environment and the economy. At
present, the 50 eco-agricultural experimental counties designated by the
state are playing positive and exemplary roles in the country, spurring
development of eco-agriculture in 10 prefectures and over 100 counties.
According to statistics, the total output of grain of the experimental
counties has increased by 15 percent, output per mu by upwards of 10
percent, and the income per capita is 12 percent higher than the average
level of the surrounding areas. The practice of eco-agriculture has
brought about striking improvements in the agricultural ecological
environment -- barren hills greened, forest acreage greatly raised, soil
erosion controlled to some extent, organic matter content of the soil
increased, and the ability of the agricultural ecological system to ward
off natural disasters improved. In the meantime, in order to promote
regional sustainable development, construction of some 100 ecological
demonstration areas, mainly at the county level, has been started in an
all-round way.

-- Further development of rural energy construction. Energy construction
in rural areas is an important measure for protecting and improving the
rural ecological environment. In 1991 comprehensive energy construction
in rural areas was started in 100 counties. As a result, a capacity
equivalent to 10.8 million tons more of standard coal was added every
year and 11.37 million tons were saved. In 1995 fuel-saving stoves,
methane, solar, wind and geothermal energy sources and small hydropower
stations began to develop and were popularized in rural areas throughout
the country. In this way, annually 80 million tons of standard coal
equivalent can be saved and additionally produced. Methane-generating
pits for agricultural use were dug to benefit 5.69 million households and
fuel-saving stoves were in use in 170 million households.

-- Pollution prevention and control in township enterprises have been
strengthened. Township enterprises are a strong mainstay of the Chinese
rural economy and an important sector of the national economy. Because of
their rapid development, the environmental problems they caused attracted
the serious attention of the Chinese government and people. In the past
decade, environmental management and pollution prevention and control in
township enterprises have made some progress. In areas along the eastern
coast, the technical and equipment levels of township enterprises have
been gradually raised. Centralized pollution control has been carried
out, along with construction of small towns, township enterprises zones
and economic development zones. All these steps have seen certain
outcomes. Zhangjiagang City in Jiangsu Province is spurring its economy
to develop rapidly while paying due attention to prevention of
environmental pollution by township enterprises. It has thus realized a
coordinated development of both the environment and the economy. In the
central and western areas township enterprises have been actively guided,
aided and supervised to prevent environmental pollution spreading. It
should be pointed out that environmental protection in areas of township
enterprises is still an arduous task, and that the government will keep
guiding them to develop in a healthy way, preventing and alleviating
environmental pollution through reinforced environmental management.

-- Development of green and organic foods is welcomed. In order to meet
the people's increasing demands for high-quality food, and to protect
agricultural natural resources and the ecological environment, relevant
departments began in 1990 to develop ``green food,'' featuring
pollution-free, safe, high-quality and nutritious contents. By the end of
1995 a total of 568 sorts of green food had been developed, many of them
becoming well-known products. Since the start of the development of green
food, 1.13 million hectares of land have been well protected. In 1995 a
government department published the Procedures on the Administration of
Organic (Natural) Food Labelling. Organic (natural) food unpolluted by
chemical fertilizers and farm chemicals has now appeared in China.

I Love Chinese http://www.hellomandarin.com/ilovechinese/index.html