Funds tagged to fight Xinjiang desertification
11 July 2007
China plans to invest US$2.46 billion over the next eight years to try to roll back desertification in northwest China's Xinjiang region, the regional government announced, Xinhua reported (in Chinese). The investment is earmarked to prevent the further expansion of desert in the Junggar Basin of northern Xinjiang and the Tarim Basin in the region's south. The central government will cover 80% of the total investment, and the remaining 20% will be financed by the regional government, said Ismail Tiliwaldi, chairman of the region, adding that the aim is to cut total desert area by 7.6 million hectares by 2015.