China must develop a new institutional structure for environmental protection if it is to have any chance of achieving the ambitious target, laid out in the 10th Five Year Plan, of 'halting the deteriorating trend of environmental degradation,' according to an Environmental Sector Update published by the World Bank in February.

Four major Chinese wetlands, considered of global importance in terms of biodiversity and habitat, are targeted for assistance under a USD 14.3 million Global Environment Facility (GEF) Wetland Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use project now entering the implementation phase.

In 1975, Mr. Tang Daiqin and 30,000 fellow labourers in Hanshou County of Hunan Province spent a total of around one million working days shovelling earth and rubble to build Qingshan 'polder' - a system of dykes that allowed 11 square kilometres of land to be reclaimed for agriculture from Dongting Lake.

Farmers are being offered grain and small cash payments in compensation for voluntarily returning marginal farmland to forest, as part of an ambitious plan to reforest 48 million hectares over the next 10 years.

Delegates from nine Hong Kong environmental NGOs, visiting Beijing on World Environment Day in June, were pleased to hear senior government officials affirm that the 'one country, two systems' doctrine should not be invoked to justify inaction on environmental issues affecting both the mainland and Hong Kong.

Whilst China's health and education indicators are in general good compared to many developing countries, coverage of rural water and sanitation is far from universal and many 'improved' systems are in a poor state of repair and/or of low sanitary standards.