China Consults International Experts on Environmental Protection in West

China needs advice on environmental protection, especially in the development of western region, Xie Zhenhua, director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) told a group of Chinese and foreign environmental experts in Beijing Tuesday.

Speaking at the fourth meeting of the second phase of China the Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), Xie said that developing China's west is a complex systematic program, and will have a strong impact on the entire country.

Given its fragile ecological environment and its important strategic location, the western region must follow the principle of prioritizing prevention and conservation in the development process, said Xie.

He said that China's top decision-makers regard ecological construction and environmental protection as the foundation and starting point of western development, and adopt the sustainable development strategy as the guiding principle.

Liu Jiang, deputy director of the State Development and Planning Commission, said that development in the region is fraught with unfavorable conditions of extreme natural conditions and poor conditions for social and economic development.

Therefore, the development in the western part is no doubt a long-term task. In order to complete the task, China should follow scientific patterns. "We are eager to listen to the recommendations of experts in formulating the programs of the development in the western region," said Liu.

According to Zhu Guangyao, vice director of SEPA, the western region suffer from the poorest environment in China, about 80 percent of China's soil erosion and most of the desertification and grassland degradation occur in the region.

Rivers are drying up, lakes are shrinking and forests are disappearing in the region. Among the ten most polluted Chinese cities, five are located in the west, said Zhu.

CCICED, which comprises 25 high-level Chinese environmental protection-related officials and economists and 30 overseas environmental protection experts or officials, was set up in 1992 by the Chinese government as an advisory body for national environmental protection and sustainable development decision-making.



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