Video: China 'to flatten 700 mountains to build new development zone'

China is to build a new state-level development zone billed as the largest 'mountain-moving' project in its history.

Britain's Guardian reports that the Lanzhou New Area, a provincial capital in China's arid northwest, will see a staggering 700 mountains flattened to level the area Lanzhou, allowing developers to build a new metropolis on the outskirts of the north-western city.

The project will mirror similar zones set up in metropolises such as Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing.

"The area will serve as a pilot zone for the nation's economic restructuring efforts and as a strategic platform for opening up the western regions," Qin Yucai, director of the National Development and Reform Commission's Western Development Department, the country's top economic planning agency, said.

Heading the initiative, according to the Guardian, is one of the country's largest private companies: the Nanjing-based China Pacific Construction Group, headed by Yan Jiehe.