Shanxi Invests Heavily in Environment ProtectionNorth China's Shanxi Province will invest 19 billion yuan (nearly 2.3 billion US dollars) in environment protection projects over the next five years, accounting for 1.5 percent of its GDP.The fund will be used in a total of 277 projects to purify local water sources, improve air quality, build garbage-processing systems and protect the ecological environment. Fund deficiency has been a chronic problem in the local environment protection progress. Statistics show that the province's investment in the environment only accounts for no more than 0.52 percent in its GDP in recent years. Shanxi will strive to push the rate up to 2 percent or higher to sustain smooth and successful work in establishing a better living environment. The province has been greening its waste mountains at an annual rate of 200,000 hectares in recent years, thereby increasing the acreage of forest to 20.7 percent of the total land area. As the leading coal producer in the country, Shanxi is home to more than 7,000 coalmines. The massive exploitation of coal resources has benefited the province economically, but also poses a huge damage to the local environment. The Shanxi provincial government has closed down 331 polluting enterprises so far. Of the nearly 10,000 local industrial enterprises under examination, 99 percent have reached the national emission standards, local sources said. In 2000, the province initiated several pollution control measures to eliminate all forms of industrial pollution, as stipulated by the central government. |
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