The central government has vowed to attract heavy investment into environmental protection work and development in its vast western regions, following Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin's call to build China into a "well-off" society within two decades.

The government plans to invest more than 500 billion yuan (US$60.5 billion) in planting trees and restoring grasslands in its 12 western provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities by 2010, said Li Zibin, deputy director of the Office of the Leading Group under the State Council for the Development of the Western Regions.

In the last three years, the central government has injected some 260 billion yuan (US$31.3 billion) into developing China's vast western areas, according to data obtained Tuesday at the Media Center of the ongoing 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Of the total, about 200 billion yuan (US$24 billion) were allocated for infrastructure, 50 billion yuan (US$6 billion) for environmental protection, while over 10 billion (US$1.2 billion) went to social undertakings.

In addition, 160 billion yuan (US$19 billion), or over one-third of the long-term state treasury bonds was used for western development. The central government also transferred 300 billion yuan (US$36 billion) of payment to the western areas. Moreover, outstanding loans from financial institutions in the western region increased by more than 600 billion yuan (US$72 billion) in the three years.

9.6 Percent GDP Increase in First Nine Months

The gross domestic product (GDP) of China's western regions, which scored a 8.5 and 8.7 percent growth in 2000 and 2001 respectively, maintained a growth rate of 9.6 percent in the first three quarters of this year, higher than the national average, according to Li.

China's strategy of developing its vast western hinterland has progressed smoothly and achieved conspicuous results, said Li, also vice minister in charge of the State Development Planning Commission, at the press conference.

"Thanks to correct guidelines and effective measures adopted by the central government, the western regions in the past three years have enjoyed a rapid growth of economy and investment inflow," he said.

Meanwhile, a host of major infrastructure projects, including the hugely-invested Qinghai-Tibet Railway on the "terrace of the world" and the west-east natural gas pipeline project, have been launched, mainly with central government funding, he added.

"The Develop-the-West strategy is a great practice of implementing the important thought of Three Representatives and of building a well-off society," he said.

The western regions on the development list consist of 11 provinces and autonomous regions as well as a municipality, which have a total area of 6.85 million square kilometers and a 364 million population. The average per capita GDP there, however, only accounts for some 40 percent of that in the more developed eastern coastal regions.

China launched the western development campaign in 1999, with Premier Zhu Rongji serving concurrently as head of the State Council Leading Group for the Development of the Western Regions.

Eco-protection: Win-Win for West Development

The three-year old Develop-the-West Strategy has proved that in the process of industrialization, sustainable development is only a dream without ecological protection.

Priority has been given to protecting and improving the ecological environment in the implementation of China's strategy of developing its vast western hinterland, officials from the central government and western regions said Tuesday.

China launched this year a massive campaign in 25 of its provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities to return farmland to forest land, said Li Zibin.

"By the end of September this year, a total of 44.18 million mu (2.95 million hectares) of farmland had been converted to forest land and 44.03 million mu (2.94 million hectares) of wasteland and barren mountain slopes had been planted with trees," said Li.

In the past three years, China has also spent some 2 billion yuan (US$241 million) on the protection and restoration of natural grassland, said Li, adding that the country will also kick off a project to restore the vigor of one billion mu (66.7 million hectares) of degraded grassland in five years by reducing or stopping grazing on such grassland.

Abdul'ahat Abdulrixit, chairman of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Government, also briefed the press on how his region has handled the relationship between local economic development and environmental protection.

"Situated in the deep hinterland of Eurasia, Xinjiang has a quite fragile ecological environment featuring mainly arid deserts or half-arid oases," said the chairman. "Therefore, we have laid great emphasis on eco-environment protection and improvement in the process of regional development."

The region has invested 10.7 billion yuan (US$1.29 billion) in pollution control and a comprehensive treatment of the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, and imposed a total ban on logging of virgin forests or any destruction of vegetation in the deserts, he added.

"We are also making every effort to control desertification and expand the area of forests and grassland through the reforestation of farmland," he said.

However, the good-looking picture hasn't eased some farmers' immediate concerns. With the declining of farmland, where can they earn a living, as they depend on produces for eating and making money? Herdsmen also need grassland. But some farmers are still chopping trees for firewood. And they have to.

A dilemma. And it prompted the local government to act. In Shaanxi alone, farmers are encouraged to raise sheep in a barn-fed manner, different from traditional pasture herding. The government has also allocated nearly US$220 million worth of compensation for the loss of farmers' food grains.

As a result, farmers found their incomes rise, despite a decline in farmland. Many counties have lifted out of extreme poverty. Shaanxi Party Congress Delegate Zhang Houhua tells how.

"We set up businesses in our spare time, and we make more money than only farming. For example, the sheep we raise can bring twice the income than before thanks to the ever increasing market demand. When the environment is getting better, more tourists are coming. And we even feel healthier in the beautiful and clean environment."

According to Zhang Houhua, in some areas in Shaanxi, farmers have dropped the use of firewood and turn to liquefied gas as fuels. Some even started to use environmentally-friendly marsh gas as an alternative.

"Tibetan Boy" Growing Up

When asked about the whereabouts of the boy that was nominated by the Dalai Lama as 11th Panchen Erdeni in 1995, Raidi, deputy-secretary of the Communist Party of China in Tibet, said, "He is as fine as other boys in Tibet."

"I can tell you that just a few days before I came to Beijing, I sent people to see the boy's family. The boy now is 1.6 meters high, and 65 kilograms in weight. He studies well, and his parents are happy (with him)," he said.

Raidi said the Dalai Lama's choice of the boy as 11th Panchen Erdeni violated Buddhist rituals and historic precedence, and is "illegal and invalid."

At the conference, Raidi said the past 13 years had witnessed the most rapid development in Tibet's history. Government support has enabled Tibet's GDP to grow annually by more than 11 percent during the period.

The past 13 years represent Tibet's best period in terms of economic development since its peaceful liberation in the early 1950s, according to data available to the press at the Media Center of the ongoing 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Figures show the region's gross domestic product (GDP) increased from 2.77 billion yuan (US$333.7 million) in 1990 to 13.87 billion yuan (US$1.67 billion) in 2001. Grain production rose from 610,000 tons in 1990 to 982,500 tons in 2001.

At the end of the last century, the number of Tibetans living below the poverty line had decreased to about 42,800, from 480,000 in 1990.

Since 1994, more than 30 billion yuan (US$3.6 billion) has been spent in capital construction in Tibet, which is 2.6 times capital spending in the previous 43 years.

In 2001, Tibet received 686,000 tourists, up 28.6 times over 1990.

Tibet sees social stability, economic growth, ethnic unity and a happy life for its people, the data say. It is expected to enter a modernized society together with other parts of the country in 2049 when New China is 100 years old.

(People's Daily November 13, 2002)