A national project aiming to protect grasslands from grazing has been launched to improve China's grassland ecosystem, a high-ranking official announced in a teleconference held Friday.

Zeng Peiyan, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Minister in Charge of the State Development Planning Commission, said the project is critical to the country's western development program and the social development of the country at large.

Under the project, one billion mu (66.7 million hectares) of seriously damaged grassland in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Tibet Autonomous Region will be removed from grazing in the next five years, accounting for 40 percent of the endangered grasslands in western regions.

In order to realize the project, it is important to delegate the responsibilities of protecting and managing grasslands to specific herdsmen, according to Zeng.

The minister also urged government departments at various levels to take concrete measures to motivate herdsmen to take part in carrying out the plan.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2003)