The new forecast service is made possible with the help of a nation-wide monitoring and forecast system against sandstorms.

A trial run of the system will start Thursday to accumulate more accurate information about possible sandstorms, said Li Huang, deputy director of the China Meteorological Administration.

With the use of satellites, radar, sounding balloons and other meteorological devices, the system can trace the development of sandstorms and provide details of sandstorms such as where it will hit.

Experts predict sandstorms will not visit North China frequently this year. North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Hebei Province have been important sources of sandstorms in previous years. Yet a snowy winter this year has moisturized the earth surface and held sand down.

Blizzards blanketed Xilingol League, Hulun Buir League and Alxa League in Inner Mongolia this winter, causing heavy damage.

In Chengde, a city north of Beijing in Hebei Province, snowfalls are 50 per cent higher than average.

If rain visit these places in March, Beijing can expect a spring without sandstorms.

China has made efforts to fight sandstorms, which frequented northern parts of the country in recent years. China's top legislature, the National People's Congress, is currently drafting an anti-desertification law.

(China Daily 03/01/2001)