A total of 50 billion yuan (US$6 billion) will be invested in the conservation of China's biological diversity and ecosystem by 2005.

Another 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) will be used to improve the facilities needed for protecting the country's biological diversity, such as improving databases.

In 1993, China became a contracting party of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which took effect at the end of that year.

Over the years to come, the country will put more efforts into protecting biological diversity, said Bai Chengshou, vice-director of the office for convention implementation under the State Environmental Protection Administration.

The country will revise its national plan on the protection of biological diversity, which was drawn up in 1993, according to Bai.

The revision will focus on how to harmonize the protection of biological diversity with issues such as the prevention of desertification.

How to protect biological diversity while achieving economic development will also be considered during the revision, Bai said.

China will improve laws and regulations in relation to biological diversity, Bai said.

One loophole causing concern is the country's lack of laws and regulations for the prevention of alien invasive species.

To tackle this problem, the country will try to set up a legal system that suits both the situation in China and international practice.

China will also give priority to the conservation of 17 key regions that are of crucial importance for global biological diversity protection, including 11 land areas, three wetlands and three ocean areas.

Protection measures in such regions will include the establishment of nature reserves and bans on construction projects that have the potential to cause pollution.

At the same time, the scientific study, inspection and evaluation of biological diversity in the regions will be strengthened.

China has achieved much progress in biological diversity protection. By the end of last year, the number of nature reserves in China had reached 1,551, a big jump from 638 reserves in 1991.

Nature reserves cover nearly 130 million hectares, accounting for 12.9 percent of the total land area of the country.

(China Daily December 27, 2002)