China's regions and provinces are seeking to lure investors with a new range of "green" projects in a bid to move away from the environmentally degrading industrial developments of the past.

Zhenping County, in the northwestern Shaanxi Province, is one such authority seeking to avoid polluting projects in favor of food or herb processing.

"We offer 11 investment projects this year, including eight environmentally friendly industries," said Luo Xueping, an official with the county's development planning department.

Luo and other officials or businessmen are attending a trade fair held for western China areas from April 6 to 10 in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Like Luo, many participants are requiring investors for more environmentally friendly projects in western China.

"Environmental protection is a top requirement in attracting investment," Luo said.

Since China launched the strategy to develop its west in 2000, the region has opened to an increasing number of industrial plants, some of which are threatening the fragile ecological environment.

In February, a newly built chemical plant in northern Shaanxi, discharged more than 2,000 tons of waste water into a nearby river, contaminating local drinking water. The plant was a project introduced by the local government to promote development.

High risk industrial plants are common in other western regions, such as the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Local governments are paying more attention to environmental protection, seeking ways to achieve a balance with economic development.

At the trade fair, local governments are turning to projects that are low pollution risks, such as processing of agricultural products or medicinal herbs, tourism and high technology.

Guizhou Province is trying to build a recycling economy and any enterprises wanting to invest there are required to have a "zero discharge" of pollutants, said Gao Hong, a senior official with Guizhou's Development and Reform Commission.

"Guizhou boasts a benign natural environment, which itself is an invaluable tourist resource, and we will not pursue economic growth at the cost of the environment," he said.

Ecological protection had to be considered first in pursuing economic growth, as the ecology was rather weak in the western region, said Li Peicheng, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

"Environmental protection is a key principle in developing China's west," said Wang Jinxiang, deputy-director of the Leading Group for the Western Region Development Office under the State Council.

"We cannot leave dirty air and polluting plants to our children," Wang said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2006)