A state-level reserve for dinosaur egg fossils is being constructed near Qinglong Mountain in Yunxian County, central China's Hubei Province, with approval from the State Council, the country's highest governing body.

The construction has won financing of 1.5 million yuan (about US$ 180,723) from the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources and the State Environmental Protection Bureau, said Zhang Xuehao, head of Yunxian County Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.

The fossils are said to be from dinosaur eggs dating back 67 million years to 135 million years. The fossils, first discovered in early 1995, are distributed in an area of 10 sq km. They are buried in six geological layers below ground.

The Qinglong Mountain area is believed to have the most complete representation of eggs of dinosaur species and boasts the most dinosaur eggs in the world.

The local government has also invested another two million yuan (about US$ 240,964) in fencing off an area with more than 50,000 sq m, where the dinosaur egg fossils are concentrated, Zhang said.

He added that the local government is also hoping to attract more domestic and overseas investment to construct more projects around the reserve, including a park devoted to items from the Cretaceous period, and museums for dinosaurs fossils and dinosaur egg fossils.

(Xinhua News Agecny 08/31/2001)