The Hindu Business Line : China chops back economic development zones to protect farmers

BEIJING: China, which has pioneered the concept of economic development zones, has cut the number of such zones from 6,866 in 2003 to 1,568 at the end of last year to curb wastage of arable land and protect farmers' interests.

The total area of the country's economic development zones has shrunk from 38,600 square kilometres to 9,949 square kilometres, officials with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the top planning body, said.

''The State Council (the Chinese cabinet) prohibits the building of new economic development zones and expanding the existing ones,'' Xinhua news agency quoted an NDRC official as saying. Over the past four years, the NDRC have integrated adjacent econom ic development zones in counties and cities, leaving only one in every county or in the outer suburbs of each city.

Economic development zones have been removed from environmentally sensitive areas, such as water source protection areas, nature reserves, scenic spots, forest parks and wetlands. Restrictions have been imposed on building chemical, paper making and phar maceutical plants upstream or upwind of residential areas. China began to cut back on its economic development zones in July 2003 because they were eating up too much arable land and damaging farmers' interests. - PTI

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