China to Spend 100 Billion Yuan on Environment in Western RegionThe Chinese government will spend 110 billion yuan (13 billion U.S. dollars) to improve the environment in the western part of the country in the next five years, Minister of Finance Xiang Huaicheng said Monday.He said that the government has allocated 12 billion yuan for environmental projects in western China this year, five billion yuan more than the annual average in the past few years. Xiang made the remarks at an international workshop on natural resources and environmental management in western China held today in Beijing. The workshop was jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Finance and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a biological preservation organization under the United Nations. The environment is one key area in China's long-term strategy to develop its western region. It has already begun to implement a plan to restore the fragile eco-system in the region by turning low-yield farmland to forest and grassland. It is planning to curb further environmental deterioration in the next decade and rebuild a sustainable eco-system in the region by 2050. Xiang said that the Ministry of Finance is working with relevant authorities to draft a scientific and feasible plan on optimizing and increasing budget spending on protecting the environment. The ministry is also actively strengthen cooperation with GEF, the World Bank, Asia Development Bank and United Nations Development Program, said Xiang. |
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