Excavating fossils without paleontologists' permission or using fossils for profit purpose will be taken net as illegal and those found doing so will be fined upto 30,000 yuan (3,600 US dollars) beginning upcoming October 1 this year.

This is specified a new regulation issued by the Ministry of Land and Resources, which is the first of its kind in China's history.

The regulation defines fossil resources as remnants or traces of forms of life existing 10,000 years ago, such as skeleton or leaf imprints, embedded and preserved in the earth's crust.

Banning any private excavation of fossils, the regulation stipulates clearly the types of fossils under key protection and the basic procedures required for the excavation and storing of fossils.

China abounds in fossil resources with fossils being found across the country. The findings of dinosaur fossils in Henan, Hubei and Inner Mongolia, bird fossils in the western part of northeast China's Liaoning province, fauna fossils in southwesternYunnan province, and fauna and flora fossils in Shandong province,east China, have all drawn worldwide attention of paleontologists.

Unfortunately in recent years, the absence of laws and rules inthis field has enabled wanton excavation and smuggling of fossils to be carried out. Taking dinosaur fossils as an example, thousands of fossil dinosaur eggs excavated from Xixia county in central China's Henan province have been smuggled overseas.

To ensure the effectiveness of the protection, the ministry also plans to issue a detailed list of fossils under key protection and work out detailed procedures in taking fossils in and out of the country with the General Administration of customs in the near future.

( People's Daily August 28, 2002)