China Issues Land-use Principles for Western RegionChina's Ministry of Land and Resources has formulated the guiding principles for land-use evaluation and approval in the 10 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in western China.According to the ministry's Outline on Land Resources Development and Use for West Development Program, major infrastructure projects will be given top priority in land-use evaluation and approval. They include trunk lines of national expressways or trunk highways linking towns and cities, selected town development projects, airports, interprovincial railway projects, natural gas pipeline projects and power plants. Priority will also be given to application for land use for urban infrastructure projects, new water conservancy projects approved by the central government, selected mineral resources development projects, and projects encouraged by the State industrial polices. Land use approval will not be given to projects which are discouraged by the State industrial policies, such as those which are technologically-backward, consume excess resources, and are heavy polluters, according to the document. It calls for policies to be formulated on land use for projects geared to woo domestic and overseas investors to set up factories, develop natural resources and provide technological upgrading for existing enterprises in the western region. |
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