East China's Fujian Province plans to invest at least 70 billionyuan (US$8.43 billion) in making it an "ecological province."
The plan is aiming for a sustainable development which achieves abalance in economic growth, environmental conservation and the useof natural resources within 20 years.
Announced by Fujian Governor Xi Jinping in Beijing on Sunday, theplan has been submitted to a national experts panel for discussionand professional advice.
Xisaid Fujian hoped to gain both economic and ecological benefits,adding that the province would consider ecological impacts whenmaking economic decisions, and would encourage the development ofenvironmentally-friendly farming and industry, and eco-tourism.
Systems to ensure rational use of natural resources like forests,sea, land, water and minerals, would be established, and the livingenvironment in urban and rural areas would be improved, Xisaid.
The total cost of projects under the plan is estimated at 71.6billion yuan (US$8.63 billion), including 37 billion yuan (US$4.45billion) to be invested by the year 2005.
Fujian, together with Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces in the northand Hainan in the south, pioneered China's provincial-levelexperiment to integrate the idea of sustainable development intoits overall development plan, according to officials with the StateEnvironmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
Nearly 400 counties and cities nationwide have also restructuredlocal industries and improved the environment after they weredesignated as "pilot ecological districts" by SEPA.
Calling it an effective attempt to deal with China's ecologicalproblems, SEPA director Xie Zhenhua said the nation would workharder to achieve a "win-win" result in both economic growth andenvironmental protection.
China's environment had paid a high price in the past due tobackward methods of development, which consumed too much energywhile producing excessive pollution, Xie said.
"If methods of sustainable development are not taken now, China'senvironmental problems will get worse as the pace ofindustrialization and urbanization speeds up," he said.
(Xinhua NewsAgency August 25, 2002)