Shaanxi Invests Heavily in Environmental ProtectionThe environmental protection administration of Shaanxi Province, northwest China, announced that the province will invest 23 billion yuan (2.77 billion U.S. dollars) in environmental protection in five years.The money will be used to build gas projects in urban areas, harness the Weihe River, promote environmental protection technologies and protect the ecological system, sources with the administration disclosed. The Weihe River, which absorbs 600 million tons of industrial and domestic wastewater annually, is one of the major rivers in China, whose environment is being monitored by the central government. The province plans to build a number of sewage treatment plants along the river, which will handle an additional 1.2 million tons of waste water annually. To date, Shaanxi has 349 environmental protection enterprises, 156 kinds of environment-friendly products which are up to the standards set by the State and the provincial government. The province has popularized 16 environmentally friendly technologies under a State plan. In the next five years, the province will focus on the industrialization of 10 kinds of environment-friendly technologies. Shaanxi also plans to build 24 more nature reserves, bringing the total number to 48. At the same time, construction of a group of pilot counties, townships and villages in ecological construction will be stepped up. |
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