BEIJING:
China?s far western
Xinjiang region has suspended
mining in one of its big
nature reserves, the official Xinhua news agency reported, amid rising environmental concerns.
The
mining sector has been a crucial part of
China?s rapid economic expansion in the last three decades, but poor regulation and weak enforcement of standards has contaminated much of the country?s soil and left parts of its land and water supplies unfit for human use, threatening public health.
Authorities in Xinjiang?s Altun national
nature reserve have stopped 69
mining projects, as part of a national campaign to tighten environmental supervision, Xinhua said. All
mining activities within the 46,800-square-kilometer reserve, home to endangered species such as Tibetan wild yak and wild ass, will be banned, it added.In September, a Chinese
mining association official said the authorities would cancel about a third of its iron ore
mining licences, mostly belonging to small polluting mines as part of Beijing?s efforts to improve air quality.
أكثر...