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The Ministry of Science and Technology has designed eight science-based
programmes to help accelerate the development of China's western
regions.
The programmes are:
Experiments in water-saving agriculture, afforestation and work
to stop the growth of deserts.
Administrative and specialized skills for county officials.
Spread of advanced farming techniques and introduction of high-tech
zones and university-based scientific parks.
Directing science and technology institutions in Beijing, Shanghai
and Tianjin to support Yunnan and Sichuan provinces and the
Xinjiang Uygur and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions.
Helping western regions select science projects for the 10th
Five-Year Plan (2001-05).
Sustainable development plans such as ecological conservation
in the Three Gorges Dam areas and environmentally sound development
in the karst peaks areas of southwestern China.
More theoretical research to give regional decision-makers scientific
information.
Co-operation with Europe for development of agriculture, fisheries
and forestry; Sino-Russian agricultural projects in China's
dry and semi-dry west; and use of poverty-relief, farm produce
processing and water-saving agriculture programmes offered by
the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and
the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
The Ministry of Science and Technology has signed agreements
with Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces;
Chongqing Municipality and the Xinjiang Uygur, Ningxia Hui,
Inner Mongolia, Tibet and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous regions
to put these plans in place.
Since the central government launched its western development
campaign early this year, the ministry has spent more than 270
million yuan (US$32.5 million) on development in western China,
according to the ministry's Development and Planning Department.
Department official Xu Jianguo said western administrators are
now implementing the projects.
Sichuan Province, for example, will promote high-yield agriculture
and industrializing traditional Chinese medicine.
(China Daily 08/19/2000)
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