Sedimentation Expands China's CoastlandDue to sedimentation at Yangtze River Delta and Yellow River Delta, China's coastland has continued to grow at a annual rate of about 3,000 hectares of shoal, according to a Chinese official.Mud and sand deposits from the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers form new land every year in the northern part of Jiangsu Province in east China, said Zhao Chengsheng, director with the Shoal and Land Reclamation Bureau of Yancheng City in Jiangsu. Yancheng City, one of the Yangtze River entrances to the East China Sea, has a 582-km coastline and some 400,000 square km shallows area. Its shoal acreage expands some 100 meters towards the sea every year, said Zhao. A vast expanse of ocean was located at the site of present-day Yancheng City more than 1,000 years ago, while at present, more and more foreign investors are showing interest in the city for its geographic location. It used to take people five to ten years to transform the shoalfor farming, said Zhao, but with new technology and scientific methods, farmers here are able to harvest within just one year. In recent years, new farms, salt plants, forests and animal breeding and protecting zones have mushroomed onto new farmland along China's coast line every year. |
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