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Japanese Government Funds Chinese Afforestation Drive
An afforestation project aided by the Japanese government started recently in Xichang City, in the Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, southwest China.
At the launching ceremony, a tree was planted to symbolize that the friendship between the peoples of China and Japan will go on from generation to generation.
According to the bilateral agreement, the Japanese government will provide 500 million Japanese yen (about 4.16 million US dollars), supporting technologies and equipment for the project, which is aimed at cultivating saplings and building shelterbelts in Xichang, Xide and Zhaojue in Sichuan, over the next five years.
A group of pilot seedling nurseries and demonstration forests will be built, and training on forestry workers in the project areas will be conducted, sources said, adding that the experience in this regard will be publicized in other parts of the country.
An official from the Japanese Embassy in China said that the reason Sichuan was chosen to carry out the pilot project is that the province, located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, has taken the lead among Chinese provinces in protecting natural forests and returning reclaimed land to forest and pasture.
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