Scientists have issued fresh warnings about China's environmental problems, saying more must be done to tackle issues such as global warming and desertification.
They have urged the Government to spend more money to avoid ecological catastrophes, as coastal areas face a rapid rise in sea levels, while inland regions struggle with serious losses of arable land owing to drought and encroaching desert.
Academics and officials found in recent studies that such problems had made China increasingly vulnerable to food shortages, climatic changes and other disasters.
Speaking at public gatherings in Beijing, Vice-Minister of Forestry Zhu Guangyao admitted that the problem of growing deserts was 'still very grave', Xinhua (the New China News Agency) said yesterday.
The campaigns, jointly organised by Beijing Forestry University, were aimed at rallying support and raising funds for desert-control projects.
China's desert regions cover 3.32 million square kilometres - 34 per cent of its total area - and are mostly in the northern and western provinces.