China has launched a pilot campaign to tackle major
environmental problems in its vast rural areas, according to the
State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
The program is a major move of the Chinese government over the
next five years to overhaul the rural environment in a bid to
enable farmers to bid farewell to the garbage-ridden and
dust-smothered environment.
At present, the program has already been carried out in six
provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and counties,
including
Jiangsu,
Jilin and
Ningxia. And the program is to extend gradually to other parts
of the country, SEPA said.
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwest China is the first
region that has experimented with the program. According to SEPA,
Ningxia's double-digit economic growth in the past five years has
laid a solid foundation for its implementation.
(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2006)