20.05.2004 07:10:00 GMT Arable land area in China still dropping; MLR cancels 3,000 "development zones"
Shanghai. (Interfax-China) - Despite efforts to reverse the long decline, the amount of arable land in China fell from 1.95 bln mu (130 mln hectares) in 1996 to 1.85 bln mu (123 mln hectares) in 2003, with much of the fall attributable to illegal development, according to figures released by the Ministry of Land and Resources.
To help counter the problem of wasted land, the Ministry has been revoking the licenses of 3,000 "development zones" throughout the country over the last six months, and the remaining 3,000 will be inspected by the end of the year, according to Chou Baoxing, the Vice Minister of Land and Resources, at a press conference held in Beijing this week.
China's per capita arable land stands at just 1.43 mu or 0.095 hectares, which is only 40% of the world average. In 2003, of all the 31 provinces, regions and municipalities, six fell under the warning level of 0.8 mu (0.053 hectares) per capita. Furthermore, the overuse of fertilizers as well as other types of pollution has caused an alarming deterioration in the quality of existing soil, according to a report in Jingji Ribao (Economic Daily).
The total area of China's development zones now exceeds the total urban land area of the whole nation, a spokesman for the Ministry said, but much of the land included in the zones remains unused. Canceling the development zones will allow the land to be freed up for agricultural use.
The Ministry has also urged local authorities to shift away from so-called "image projects" - defined as those without practical purpose that are primarily designed to boost the image of the local government leadership - and towards vital infrastructure.
There are growing concerns in the government about the way China's arable land is being eaten away, especially in light of the country's ambitious urbanization targets, which aim to bring the proportion of the population living in the cities up from 35% to 60% by 2020.
