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Eastern Turkistan - News from Xin Hua
1 ) Earthquake Jolts Xinjiang County
2 ) Environment Impact of West-east Gas Pipeline Under Assessment
3 ) China to Set up National Ecological Function Conservation Areas
4 ) China to Tap Sylvite Resources in Lop Nur
5 ) Tarim Made Breakthrough in Oil/Gas Production
6 ) Xinjiang Starts Direct Air Route to Hong Kong
(1) Earthquake Jolts Xinjiang County
(03-24-01) An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter Scale hit Hejing County in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at 7:23 (Beijing Time) Saturday, according to the China Seismological Bureau. The epicenter was located in the place of 42.7 degrees north latitude and84.7 degrees east longitude. Damages caused by the earthquake are unavailable at press time.
(2) Environment Impact of West-east Gas Pipeline Under Assessment
(03-23-01)The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) is busy shaping a report on the potential impact on the environment caused by a planned 4,200- kilometer gas pipeline from West China to the East.
The west-east gas pipeline project is China's second-largest infrastructure project next to the Three Gorges Dam project. Its construction will start in the first half of this year and be put into operation by 2003.
The impact is to be quite complicated as the gas pipeline will start from the desert-dominated Xinjiang in northwest China to Shanghai ,a coastal metropolis in the east, said Mou Guangfeng, an official with the SEPA.
The pipeline will run through deserts, highlands, grassland, forests, wetlands and also farmland in seven provinces in China.
The government will evaluate the negative influence the project may have and find out the solution, Mou added. A general report has been drawn up and approved.
The project has to deal with soil erosion when it runs through the loess highlands. Loose earth and deserted coal mines there may get pipelines in trouble, he said.
The West-east gas pipeline project will provide 12 to 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas to provinces around the Yangtze Delta after it is put into operation. This will greatly change the energy consumption mix and improve the air quality there.
About 120 billion yuan is to be invested in the first phase of the project.
(3) China to Set up National Ecological Function Conservation Areas
(03-23-01)The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) announced Thursday that China will establish 10 national ecological conservation areas, seven in west China and three in the east.
These conservation areas will be significant to balancing the regional ecological environment, relieving natural disasters such as flood and sandstorms, as well as reducing soil erosion, said Yang Chaohui, an official with the SEPA.
Several conservation areas lie in the sources of the country's major rivers, such as the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Tarim River in Northwest China and three major rivers in Northeast China.
The government will ban any heavily polluted construction projects in these conservation areas and some residents may be moved out of those densely populated areas, according to the SEPA source.
The 10 conservation areas will be run under relatively loose policies, compared with those on nature reserves, Yang said.
China aims to have human activities in these areas harmony with the ecological environment rather than driving humans absolutely away from the natural environment, he added.
Temporary management regulations on the conservation areas will soon be unveiled by SEPA for trial implementation before formal regulations are enacted.
(4) China to Tap Sylvite Resources in Lop Nur
(03-23-01) China is making preparations to tap the sylvite resources in Lop Nur, a huge stretch of wildness in the Tarim Basin, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to reliable sources.
Zhao Mianping, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told Xinhua that Lop Nur is expected to be built into an important sylvite and potash fertilizer production base in China.
Zhao is in Xinjiang attending a symposium on the development of kali salt resources in Lop Nur.
Initial investigations show that the industrial reserve of sylvite in this piece of wilderness is 100 million tons and the prospective reserve of the salt-like minerals is 250 million tons.
Geologists estimated that the potential value of the sylvite resources in Lop Nur will surpass 500 billion yuan (60.24 billion US dollars).
Last year, Xinjiang's geology and mineral departments discovered a underground water source in the hinterland of Lop Nur, which can outflow 10 million cubic meters of water annually, and a huge amount of clay for building mines.
The Lop Nur Sylvite Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd, with the Xinjiang regional government as a leading sponsor, has invested heavily in experiments on sylvite production techniques.
Academician Zheng stressed that work needs to be done for the development in view of the harsh natural conditions in Lop Nur.
Zheng said the development project has won support from governments of various levels and attracted some powerful enterprises and experts from at home and abroad.
Xinjiang plans to raise its sylvite production capacity in Lop Nur to at least 200,000 tons annually within five to 10 years, which will greatly ease the shortages of kali salt and potash fertilizer in China and promote the development of agricultural economy.
At present, China needs 5 million tons of potash fertilizer annually compared with its output of 800,000 tons on yearly basis.
(5) Tarim Made Breakthrough in Oil/Gas Production
(03-22-01) After two years of intensive geological survey and exploration by over 600 sci-tech personnel, important breakthroughs have been made in both theory and practice in finding new oil/natural gas supplies in Tarim Basin. Among the many successes are four large/medium-sized oil/gas fields and 13 oil-bearing formations that have been discovered and 346 million tons of new oil/gas reserves proved.
Oil/gas exploration in Tarim has been a key sci-tech project outlined for the periods of the 7th, 8th and 9th Five-year Plans. In 1999, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) decided on the project as a crucial undertaking along with those set for the 9th Five-year Plan period. On March 20, MST invited 15 experts including six academicians to check the project before it was launched in Beijing After hearing out the report, experts spoke highly of the successes made. New oil/gas fields and oil-bearing formations found, especially Kara-2 gas field by Tarim Oilfield Company of China National Petroleum Corporation and Xinxing Petrochemical Co., Ltd. SINOPEC Corporation are in the way to help build up China's oil/gas reserves benefiting its "West-East Pipeline Project".
In the view of experts, Tarim Basin claims an oil/natural gas reserve about 50 percent of Western China's. Scientists believe that prolonged geological evolution had contributed to Tarim's rich oil/gas reserves. It claims a complexity of geological conditions and many untouched fields to be further explored, for example, the reserves discovered so far only account for nearly 6 percent of the estimated amount, and no large oilfield in proportion to such a large basin has been found yet. China will take oil/gas exploration in Tarim as a strategic task and made greater effort for sci-tech research to realize an early substantial breakthrough during the 10th Five-year Plan period.
(6) Xinjiang Starts Direct Air Route to Hong Kong
(03-22-01) To cater to the demand of developing west China, Xinjiang Airlines will start an air route from Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) as of coming Saturday.
It is the first direct chartered flight linking the remote inland area of China to HKSAR in south China.
Return flights will be available every Saturday from June 24 to October 6.Boeing 757-200 planes will be used to fly the new route.
From: Mavlan Yasin <MYasin@UniversalCare.com
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ETIC REPORT 2000 
