Some 1.8 billion yuan (about US$217 million) will be invested to improve the ecological environment in the northern part of Hebei Province in the hope of reducing the sandstorms that often harass Beijing.

The north of Hebei, where there is a large area of sandy land, is the major origin of the sandstorms that often hit Beijing.

According to the provincial government, about 700,000 hectares of land will be afforested in the province this year.

In addition, measures will also be taken to protect a large area of grassland, and several thousand water-saving projects will be launched in the area, according to sources.

The province will also relocate more than 8,000 residents to facilitate the ecological environment.

In the coming ten years, Zhangjiakou and Chengde, two cities in the north of the province, will move a total of 80,000 people out of the areas where ecological environment is extremely bad.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2003)