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More than 8 million local residents have been rescued from poverty over the past 13 years by a water and soil conservation project on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

The figure was disclosed in Wuhan at a just-ended working conference on water and soil conservation along the Yangtze, China's longest river.

Initiated in 1989, the longest and most influential ecological program within the Yangtze Valley has become a model for curbing soil erosion in a bid to improve the agricultural environment and boost rural economy.

So far, the country has spent 2 billion yuan (US241 million) on the project which covers 73,000 square km (28,178 square miles) of eroded areas.

The vegetation coverage rate in the project zone has risen from26 percent to 46 percent. And the combined area of barren hill slopes and wasteland has shrunk by 84 percent.

About 2.05 million hectares (5.07 million acres) of steep farmland have been modified.

Chen Lei, vice-minister of water resources, attributed the project's success mainly to its sound organizational framework, strict regulations and constant innovations.

The Yangtze valley accounts for one-fifth of China's total land area, one-fourth of its arable land, one-third of its population and two-fifths of its industrial and agricultural output.

In 1989, China also launched water and soil conservation projects on the lower reaches of the Jinsha River, the middle and lower reaches of the Jialing River and the Three Gorges Reservoir area.

( June 14, 2002)