Formulation of the poverty alleviation plan

According to the national poverty alleviation plan (the "Helping Eighty Million People in Seven Years" Plan), the State will do all it can to solve the problems of inadequate food and clothing for the 80 million poverty-stricken rural people in a seven year period from 1994 to 2000. This will be accomplished by concentrating the manpower, material and financial resources of the country and mobilising all the forces of society. After three years of hard work, China's poverty-stricken population had dropped from 80 to 58 million by the end of 1996. In 1995, the net annual per capita income for those counties listed as major alleviation targets by the State had reached RMB 824 yuan and the available per capita grain allocation reached 353.5 kg.

Mobilisation of societal forces participating in poverty alleviation

-- Organising the corresponding central party departments, State departments, enterprises, and institutions to offer direct help

At present, 122 central party departments, State departments, large-scale enterprises, and institutions have established relationships of designated assistance with 330 key poor counties (these account for 56% of the poor counties in the country). In 1995 alone, the above-listed work units made investments worth RMB 947 million yuan in materials and capital and introduced investment worth RMB 990 million yuan into the recipient counties. The various State departments also started scores of departmental or sectoral plans for promoting development in poor regions, such as "Poverty Alleviation through Transportation", "Drinking Water for Both Humans and Livestock", and "Common Prosperity through Development of the Electric Structure".

-- Organising aid from the developed regions to under-developed regions

Early in 1995, the State initiated the "Projects for Cooperation between the Township Enterprises in East and West China" with the aim of encouraging the development of township and village enterprises in the poor central and western parts of the country and promoting the growth of the rural economy. One hundred pilot areas for TVE cooperation will be set up in central and western China by the year 2000, with 1000 industrial pilot projects started, 1000 mature new technologies and products disseminated, and 100 sister counties (cities) of bilateral cooperation matched, in order to utilise regional advantages between the eastern and western regions, promote common prosperity, and narrow the regional disparity. In 1996 the State Council drew up a poverty-alleviation programme which required that six provinces and three municipalities directly under central administration, and four cities of independent economic planning along the coast help ten provinces and autonomous regions in the west. This programme has proceeded smoothly.

Arrangements for resettlement

The Government has organised voluntary resettlement for those who are willing to leave those hometowns which are poor in natural conditions and resources. By moving out of these towns, nearly one million people have managed to find better food and clothing supplies. For example over 600,000 people have moved out of the desolate areas in the poorest regions of Dingxi Prefecture of Gansu Province and Xi-Hai-Gu Region of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Improvement of infrastructure in poor areas

By 1995, the poor counties, with major governmental support, had expanded the acreage of their basic farmland by 269,000 hectares. Also, drinking water was newly channelled to 7.56 million people and 6.09 million livestock. More than 30,000 kilometres of new highways had been constructed, so that 98.3% of the towns in the countryside are now connected by highways, more than 31,000 kilometres of electric transmission lines had been constructed (88.4% of the villages were powered by the grid network), and there were substantial improvements in cultural life, education, and sanitary conditions in the poor regions.

Adequately safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of women and children

The Chinese Government pays great attention to the people's rights of reproduction and their reproductive health, and has worked to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of women and children through legislation. Educational activities are carried out throughout the country on such topics as contraception, sterilisation, good bearing and upbringing, and reproductive care. Efforts have been made to improve the quality of reproductive medical services. Demonstrations on offering high-quality family planning service have been performed in some regions so that people of child-bearing age may choose contraception or sterilisation measures on an informed basis and in a responsible manner. By 1996, more than 200 million child-bearing age people had taken contraception measures. The integrated contraception rate among married women is more than 80%.

Improvement in urban residents' health

A medical service and family planning network has been developed in China. In 1991, China begun to reform its medical insurance system for urban workers by combining social management with individual accounting. At the same time, a cooperative medical system has been developed. At present, the average life expectancy of Chinese people is 70, the infant mortality has dropped below 3.14%, the pregnant and lying-in women mortality is 0.0619%, and the planned children vaccination rate is 85% (using towns as the statistical unit). All the above statistics serve to illustrate that some major indices of people's sanitation and health of China are advanced in comparison to other countries at a similar economic development level.

Formulation of strategies for sustainable forest resource development

China attaches great importance to the development of forest resources and has drawn up the "Forestry Action Plan for China's Agenda 21", the "Programme Outline of China's Ecological Environment Construction", the "Key Points of the Programme for Comprehensive Development of Forests in Mountain Areas", etc. The Government has put forward a number of general strategic objectives and countermeasures: strengthening breeding, protecting and managing of forest resources, enlarging forest areas, and improving the forest quality. The past five years have seen the planting of large-scale shelter forests, implementation of ecological system projects, and voluntary afforestation activities through the "plant trees everywhere and make the country green" programmes.

Acceleration of the construction of forest ecological systems

In order to preserve the environment of fragile ecological areas, China has successfully carried out five ecological forest projects:

--The "Three Northern Regions" (northeastern, northwestern, and northern China) shelter forest system project

This project started in 1978 and involves 551 counties from 13 provinces. The total area is 4.06 million square km (42.4% of the land territory of China). By 2050, the planned afforestation area will be 30.58 million hectares, of which 18.51 million hectares of afforestation has been completed, thus transforming 1.3 million hectares of sandy land into farmland and pasture, bringing 12% of the deserted land under control, and protecting 11 million hectares of farmland with shelter forests.

--The middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River shelter forest project

This project relates to 271 counties from 11 provinces. According to the project plan, from 1989 to 2000, there will be an increase of 6.67 million hectares of forests (thus raising the forest cover from 19.9% to about 40%). After 7 years of implementation, 6 million hectares will be afforested.

--Coastal shelter forest system

This project involves 195 counties from 11 provinces. The planned afforestation area is 3.56 million hectares. By 1996, 2.06 million hectares will be afforested, 11,000 kilometres of primary shelter forest belt will be built (being 90% of the coastal potential afforestation area), and 18,000 km of coastal forest belt will generally been completed. The regional forest cover will be raised from 21.7% in 1987 to the present 29.1%.

--The Taihang Mountains Afforestation Project

This project involves 110 counties from Beijing, Hebei, Henan, and Shanxi Provinces. It was planned that 3.56 million hectares of forests would be planted by 2050. Since 1993, 1.31 million hectares have been afforested.

--Farmland shelter forest projects

The combination of "shelter belt, forest network, and forested area" with plain farmland shelter projects focuses on farmland shelter forests and focuses on implementing shelter belts, inter-cropping crops and trees, and planting trees around the farmland (or in tracks) as the main components. At present, the farmland surrounded by forest networks is 34.2 million hectares and 84% of plain counties have met the national afforestation standard.

--Other ecological forestry projects

In addition to the five major projects mentioned above, in 1995, some new projects were started in the Huaihe River Basin, Taihu Basin, Zhujiang River Basin, Liaohe River Basin, and the middle reaches of the Yellow River. These shelter forest projects involve 609 counties from 16 provinces and the planned afforestation area is 6.6 million hectares.

Great progress in integrated forestry development of mountain areas

While protecting and making use of forest resources, the Government has made vigorous efforts to develop forest resources in mountain areas and develop forestry and fruit-growing as the backbone industries of the regional economy in order to encourage social and economic development in poverty-stricken areas. For example, in Liuzhou, Guilin, and Hechi Prefectures of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the 18 poor counties from five prefectures of Guizhou Province (which is known as the "Ninety Thousand Mountain" area) through forest resources development, industrial structure adjustment, and developing the backbone industries of forestry and fruits, the forest cover of the area has been raised to 37.61% and the per capita income has been increased by RMB 367 yuan.

1. Decision-Making Structure: The Ministry of Forestry is a governmental agency responsible for the issues in this field in China.

2. Capacity-Building/Technology Issues: Guided by the strategy of promoting afforestation through the application of science and technology, the Chinese Government has promulgated a series of afforestation technology regulations and set up scientific and technological systems, information networks for scientific research, and extended technological supervision, thus promoting the advanced scientific and technological achievements and practical technology to improve the quality of forest planting and breeding. Since 1990, man-made afforestation has covered 24.7 million hectares, plane sowing afforestation has seeded 12.74 million hectares, the afforested area in the enclosed hills and mountains has reached 26.26 million hectares, and the national forest cover has been increased from 12.98% to 13.92%. An significant crease of forest area and storage has been achieved and the trend of long-term decrease in forest storage has been basically reversed. Now there are only a few uncovered afforestable mountains or lands in twelve provinces.

3. Major Groups: Women, Children and Youth, minority nationality districts, workers and Labour Unions, science and technology circles have been deeply involved in the activities of planting trees and combating deforestation.

4. Finance: No information.

5. Regional/International Cooperation: No information.

Acceleration of rural social development

--Establishment of a rural social insurance system

The central and local governments have increased their input disaster mitigation and prevention efforts. In 1995, the Disaster Relief Fund allocated RMB 2.35 billion yuan to disaster victims. More than 10 million people were safely transported from disaster areas and housed, and 40 million people received disaster mitigation and prevention relief in the form of food, clothing, housing, and medical care. Reform of the disaster mitigation and prevention management system has advanced. The local government accounted for 19.1% of the total expenditure for disaster mitigation and prevention. Societal relief and poverty alleviation were developed in tandem. In 1995, 31.528 million poor people benefited from the relief supplied by the State, and the civil affairs departments assisted 6.963 million families. Within the year, 1.938 million families had escaped poverty, a success rate of 27.8%. The policy of the "Five Guarantees" (guaranteeing food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and funeral services for the elderly, handicapped, orphans, and widows) has been implemented. In 1995, there were a total of 2.415 million "Five Guarantees" people receiving relief from collectives and the money raised for this purpose was RMB 1.86 billion yuan. Great progress has also been registered in rural elderly social insurance. In 1995, this work was carried out in more than 1,600 counties within 28 provinces and municipalities all over China. There were more than 51.428 million people participating in the old-age pension programmes. The network for rural social insurance has been expanded. By the end of 1995, the rural social insurance network had been established in 15,377 townships, accounting for 33% of China's total townships. Over 63.2% of the townships had old-age homes and there were 197,000 disaster mitigation and prevention fund associations with a total accumulated capital of RMB 3.71 billion yuan.

-- Improvement of rural sanitary conditions

By the end of 1995, the water purification coverage rate reached 86.7%. The total benefiting population was nearly 800 million, and 49.8% of rural residents could use tap water. In 1991, the Chinese Government established a special fund for the construction and reform of township clinics. In the past four years, the total investment for completed projects reached RMB 6.79 billion yuan. By the end of 1996, there were 51,277 township clinics and 806,162 village clinics, which over 89.1% of the total administrated villages of China.

-- Accelerating transformation of labour employment

Rural employment growth is an important symbol and the embodiment of rural social development. There are two major trends in China's rural employment: the growth of aquaculture and livestock-growing has decreased the number of labourers in agriculture; and the trend of rural labourers going to cities for work has led to an annual increase in employment of 10%. At present, China's employment structure is undergoing major restructuring. The absolute size of the agricultural labour force has clearly decreased. From 1992 to 1994, the number of agricultural labourers decreased by 15.69 million. The total size of non-agricultural employment is approaching that of agricultural employment. The Government has carried out the project of putting the trans-regional flow of rural surplus labour in order. The uncontrolled flow of surplus labour has begun to change. The occupational changes occurring among rural labourers has increased the income of rural families, promoted the development of the rural economy, and resulted in the improvement of people's living standards.

Establishment of genetic resources bases

The Chinese Government attaches importance to the collection and protection of agricultural species resources and the genetic resources of domestic fowl and livestock. At present, China has established a preliminary protection system for agricultural species with one state-level long-term seeds storage room and duplication room, 23 local mid-term warehouses, and 25 state-level seed fields. This protection system has stored more than 300,000 agricultural species samples and protected most of the agricultural species resources. A gene base of the herbage species has been established for the domestic fowl and livestock. Priority protection programs have been carried out for some endangered and sharply decreasing domestic fowl and livestock species. An aquatic resources base has also been established. The Department of Fisheries has established 32 natural aquatic species sites, 218 superior species sites, and 1062 sites for breeding fish with a total capacity of breeding more than 200 billion fish from a number of species each year. A total of 379 types of aquatic species has been put on the "List of Species Resources for Protection" and given priority for research and protection.

1. Decision-Making Structure: The National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) is the lead organization for the protection of biodiversity. The Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Administration of Oceanography and the Ministry of Construction are responsible for providing management in their respective areas. The State Planning Commission and the State Science and Technology Commission also have responsibilities for the conservation of biodiversity. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has established a Committee for Environmental and Resource Protection within its framework.

2. Capacity-Building/Technology Issues:

Formulating and promulgating laws and regulations

China has successively formulated and promulgated laws and regulations such as the "Forest Law of the People's Republic of China", the "Law of Fishing of the People's Republic of China", the "Wildlife Protection Law of the People's Republic of China", the "Management Regulation of Natural Reserves", the "Regulation of the People's Republic of China Concerning Continental Wild Animals", the "Regulations for the Protection of Aquatic and Wild Animals of the People's Republic of China", the "Regulations on Wild Flora Conservation", the "Regulations on Management of Forest and Wildlife Nature Reserves", the "Provisions Governing Hunting Guns and Bullets of the People's Republic of China", the "List of Key Protected Wildlife of National Importance", and the "National List of Rare and Endangered Plants". The various provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central Government have formulated and issued corresponding local laws and executive regulations. The Environmental Protection Committee (under the National People's Congress) and the State Council have inspected the enforcement of environmental protection in fishery and forestry departments, and strictly prosecuted those offenders who have seriously destroyed the wild fauna and flora resources (such as excessive hunting and smuggling).

Strengthening scientific studies and management

China has set up management offices and scientific committees for the import and export of endangered species. Management institutions for wild animals and plants, as well as the nature reserves, have been established in 25 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central Government. Research institutions for the study of endangered animals and plants have been set up in northeastern, northwestern, and southern China. In Sichuan, Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi Provinces, 19 protection and breeding centres have been established for endangered wild animals and plants such as the Northeast tiger, elk, wild horse, high-nose antelope, nipponia bird, Chinese sturgeon, Yangtze alligator, golden-striped tortoise, etc. Across China, there are over 300 artificial breeding farms for wild animals and plants, one national bird centre, fifty bird stations, and five white-flag dolphin protection stations.

Establishing the biodiversity information and monitoring systems

The Chinese Government has set up several special biodiversity information systems. The Chinese Academy of Sciences alone has established a relatively complete biodiversity information system which includes 5 subject branches, 25 data sources, and more than 30 databases. A species and products resource database system for agriculture has been established by the agricultural departments, including 15 agricultural products, 270,000 seeds samples, and 12,590,000 data entries. The National Environmental Protection Agency has set up a database for nature reserves across the country. An ecosystem and biodiversity study and monitoring network, composed of 78 ecological stations, has been established in China.

Compiling the Red Books of Plants and Animals in China based on investigation, research, and scientific results of more than ten years' work

China started the compilation of the "Red Book of Plants in China" and the "Red Book of Animals in China". These books will have 8 volumes, 3 of which are already finished. China also published the "List of Ecosystems under Priority Protection", the "List of Animals under Priority Protection", and the "List of Wild Plants under Priority Protection ".

Mobilising public participation for biodiversity protection

China has disseminated laws and regulations, such as the "Regulations for the Protection of Aquatic and Wild Animals", and popularised the scientific knowledge of wild flora and fauna through various media and activities such as "Bird-Loving Week", "Biodiversity Day", "Publicity Month for the Protection of Wild Animals", public lectures, exhibits, etc. Each year for the past ten years, the organisations for wildlife administration and environmental protection at national and local levels have held quiz games, composition contests, and summer camp activities about wild animal and plants for primary and middle school students. Such special programmes as "Animal World" and "Humans and Nature" on CCTV (China Central Television) have become popular programmes with great influence.

3. Major Groups: Local governments have agencies similar to those in the central Government, which have been established to address local issues in the conservation of biodiversity.

NGOs, such as the Chinese Society of Environmental Sciences, the Chinese Ecological Society, the Chinese Society of Forestry, the Chinese Society of Agronomy, the Chinese Society of Oceanography, the Chinese Society of Botany, the Chinese Society of Zoology and the Chinese Association of Wildlife Conservation, play an active role in biodiversity conservation in coordination with the governmental agencies.

4. Finance: No information.

5. Regional/International Cooperation: Ten nature reserves have been included in the International Network of Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO. Six nature reserves have been listed in the List of International Important Wetlands.

The US-based McCarther Foundation supports the project Forest Resources Management and Biodiversity Protection in the Gaoli Gongshan Natural Reserve.

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea was ratified in 1996.

China has a vast maritime space, a long coastal line, and rich marine resources. At present, the marine industry has become a new area of growth for the coastal regions economic development. According to available information, the total annual output of China's marine industry is over RMB 220 billion yuan. Therefore, China considers rational utilisation of marine resources and the protection of marine environment as inseparable and has taken steps to develop and strengthen marine resource management and marine environmental protection.

Formulation of China's Ocean Agenda 21 and its Action Plan

Early in 1995, a common understanding on the principal strategy, objectives, and countermeasures of China's maritime work in the 21st Century was reached after several discussions organised by State Oceanic Administration (the government agency responsible for the maritime affairs of China) and attended by local governments in the coastal areas, ministries in charge of foreign exploration and management, and marine research specialists. After more than one year's efforts, the State Oceanic Administration formally released "China's Ocean Agenda 21" in May of 1996 and formulated an Action Plan. These became the guidelines and action framework for the exploration and protection of maritime resources, the improvement of the polluted marine environment, and the implementation of sustainable development.

Integrated survey of the country's sea islands and experiments for sea island development

In 1989 China began to conduct a survey of sea islands. After eight years, it came to a successful end in 1996 with a primary understanding of the quantity of the country's sea islands and the marine resources on and near these islands, as well as the environmental, social, and economic conditions of the islands and surrounding areas. These steps have laid the foundation for rational exploration and utilisation of China's sea islands. Since 1993, China has approved six sea islands national comprehensive experimental development areas (Changdao Island of Shandong Province, Zhoushan Liuheng Island of Zhejiang Province, Haitan Island of Fujian Province, Changhai Island of Liaoning Province, Nan'ao Island of Guangdong Province, and Weizhou Island of Guangxi Province.) After more than three years of construction, outstanding benefits have been achieved. For example, in the experimental area of Liaoning's Changhai Island, people made great efforts in the development and promotion of seven floating-raft aquaculture projects and seabed sowing technology, including those for shrimp and scallops. The ratio of input to output is 1:3.5. The total annual economic profit of these projects is more than RMB 340 million yuan.

Research on key technology of coastal resource utilisation and environment, and establishment of demonstrations on coastal development

In order to strengthen the comprehensive management capability of coastal areas, China has listed some key technology research areas in the Ninth Five-Year Plan for intensive scientific and technological attention. They include: "research on key technologies for utilisation of coastal resources and environment", "research on key technologies for comprehensive utilisation of sea water resources", "research on key technologies for oceanic energy generation", and "research on key technologies for membranes". In 1996, China started to implement a program to develop the ocean through application of science and technology, and to promote economic development in coastal areas.

Active protection of biological marine resources and continuous construction o