At a press conference Monday for the 2001 Western Forum, which is scheduled to open on September 4, they said the governments of the five provinces and autonomous regions have been zealous in improving the local ecological environment, building infrastructure facilities, and improving government efficiency.

They are Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai provinces, and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Over the past two years, Shaanxi alone has planted trees on 850, 000 hectares of land, returned 270,000 hectares of reclaimed land to forests and grassland, and treated 12,000 sq km of soil erosion. Similar efforts have gained encouraging results in Qinghai and Gansu.

Shaanxi has also used 130 billion yuan in infrastructure construction. Qinghai has built its first expressway and kicked off the construction of the world's highest railway leading to Tibet. A highway network based on seven state trunk highways have shaken shape in Xinjiang.

The two years of efforts have resulted in an increase in foreign direct investment in the five provinces and autonomous regions.

(Xinhua News Agency 09/03/2001)