Soil erosion in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei and Gansu provinces and Chongqing municipality on the river's upper reaches has been serious.

The Chinese government launched a soil erosion improvement campaign in 1989 to prevent further deterioration.

The current move aims to improve 30,000 square kilometers of eroding land. The ratio of improved land at the lower reaches of Jinsha River, middle and lower reaches of Jialing River, Three Gorges dam area and southern Shaanxi will be 50 percent, said Zhang Zhongwei, governor of Sichuan Province, who also takes the charge of soil erosion improvement at the upper reaches of Yangtze.

China's strategy to develop western China offers a rare historic chance for water and soil conservation at the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

Under a government plan, the region will cover 1.6 million hectares of barren or poor farmland with trees and grass.

Yibin in southwest China's Sichuan Province has improved soil erosion on an area of 1,500 square kilometers and succeeded in raising the forest coverage rate from 7 percent to 34 percent.

(Xinhua 02/24/2001)