The Chinese central government has invested more than 200 billion yuan (over US$25 billion) to improve the environment in its western region in the last five years, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The money was used to plant 40 million hectares of trees, to curb soil erosion over an area of 540,000 square kilometers and return 19.33 million hectares of grazing land to grassland, said Wang Jinxiang, vice-minister in charge of the NDRC.

Wang made the remarks at a meeting on prevention of desertification which just concluded in Tianjin, a north China port city that neighbors Beijing.

Wang said China has launched a series of projects to enhance ecological preservation and improvement in western regions. These projects include returning reclaimed land to forest, returning grazing land to grassland, protection of natural forest, harnessing sources of sandstorms affecting Beijing and Tianjin and conservation of soil and water.

The ten regions in western China cover a total area of 5.4 million square kilometers, or 56 percent of China's total land area. They have a total population of 300 million, 23 percent of China's total. But its per-capita gross domestic product is only 60 percent of the national average.

The region is rich in cultural and natural resources, and boasts abundant mineral and energy resources. The government launched a campaign to develop its vast western region in 2000.

Despite achievements in recent years, Wang, the NDRC vice-minister, warned that there is still a long way to go to ensure sound ecosystems in western areas, citing frequent sandstorms which have plagued Beijing and other northern areas in recent years.

According to NDRC figures, the western areas account for 80 percent of China's total area of 3.56 million square kilometers that suffer soil erosion, and more than 90 percent of the country's 2.62 million square kilometers of desert area are located in western regions.

The figures also show that China has 180 million hectares of grassland that have seriously deteriorated, most of which are located in western areas.

The central government will further push forward ecological construction in western regions in the coming four years and more. Major projects will include the protection of wetland resources, ecological improvement in areas around the Qinghai Lake, the largest saltwater lake in China, and projects to protect the environment along the Yellow River, the second longest waterway in China.

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2006)