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Premier making an inventory of Chinese economy （4） |
| CCTV.COM 2003-03-05 09:03:28 |
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The program for developing the western region made a good start, the report says.
Over the past three years since the introduction of the western development strategy, the government has given a powerful push to the region's development by increasing investment, stepping up transfer payments and introducing preferential fiscal and taxation policies. Work was begun on 36 new key projects, which called for a total investment of over 600 billion yuan, it says.
Smooth progress was made on such major projects as the Qinghai－Tibet Railway, the diversion of natural gas and electricity from the western to the eastern regions, water control projects and trunk highways.
Work was accelerated to ensure that every county seat is served by asphalt roads, that every township has access to electricity, and that every village enjoys radio and television reception.
China's capability for sustainable development was enhanced. The spending on environmental protection and ecological development in the five years reached 580 billion yuan, amounting to 170 percent of the figure from 1950 through 1997.
Six forest ecological projects －－ reforesting formerly cultivated land, protecting natural forests and controlling the sources of dust storms affecting Beijing and Tianjin －－ were carried out in full.
During these five years, an additional 27.87 million hectares of land was covered with trees； 31.53 million hectares of hills were cordoned off for a forestation, and about 3.82 million hectares of formerly cultivated land were returned to forests. Soil erosion on 266,000 square km of land and desertification on about 5.7 million hectares of land were brought under control.
The tendency towards worsening environmental pollution has, on the whole, been arrested. New progress was made in the protection of natural resources. With the natural population growth rate down to 6.45 per thousand, China has entered a new period of low and stable birthrate, according to the report.
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Editor: Han Ling Source:Xinhua
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