Gansu that is suffering worsening desertification will make a breakthrough in desertification control by guaranteeing the legitimate rights of overseas organizations who joined the efforts as it officially launched its rules for the implementation of the country�s sand control law.
A spokesman for the provincial government said that this marked the further opening of the province in the work.
According to a 1999-2000 survey of 36 counties in the province, the desertified farmland amounted to 1.37 million hectares, accounting for 69 percent of the total arable land.
(www.cenews.com.cn February 24, 2003)
