China publishes annual report on land and resources

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 09, 2004

China publishes annual report on land and resources

China published Friday its 2003 report on the country's situation of land and resources, citing tough measures to protect farmland and mineral resources.

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China published Friday its 2003 report on the country's situation of land and resources, citing tough measures to protect farmland and mineral resources.

The 8.000 Chinese-character report, the third of its kind in the past three consecutive years, comprises of eight chapter. They are land resources, mineral resources, marine resources, efforts to curb irregularities on land markets and in mineral resources prospecting and development sector.

The central government moved to introduce tough measures to protect the country's farmland resources and regulate land market order, and clear up various development zones and deal with irregularities, the report says.

China canceled 3,763 of its 6,015 development zones by the end of last year, and a total of 178,000 pieces of land-use irregularities were reported, 127,000 of them have been or are being investigated, according to the report.

The country's farmland resources totaled 123.3922 million ha in2003, down by 2.01 percent over the previous year, it says, citing construction projects and the efforts to convert farmland not suitable for farming into land for conservation as the two major factors for the depletion of farmland resources.

By early 2003, China has proved resources reserve of 158 different mineral resources with varying drops in the proved reserves of oil, coal and other some other energy resources, and iron and some other ferrous metal resources, says the report.

China's foreign trade of mineral products totaled 160 billion US dollars in 2003, including imports of 91.12 million tons of crude oil and 148.13 million tons of iron ore, according to the report.

China's marine sector generated over 1 trillion yuan (122.8 billion US dollars) in production value last year, accounting for 3.82 percent of the country's gross domestic product, or GDP.

The report indicates that Chinese people can enjoy only 278.63 cubic meters of exploitable underground fresh water every year.

According to the ministry's 2003 report on the country's situation of land and resources, a latest round of underground water resources check found that China has only an yearly average of 352.7 billion cubic meters of exploitable underground fresh water during recent years.

China boasts 923.5 billion cubic meters of natural underground water, of which 884.7 billion is fresh water, said the report.

The ministry has also made clear the volume, quality and exploitable potential of underground waters near the capital, including five emergency underground water sources located in several districts of Beijing.

Source: Xinhua

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