BEIJING: The first national-level territorial space plan tailored to a specific river basin was recently approved by the State Council, China’s Cabinet, a senior environmental and territorial planning official said on Thursday.
“The plan provides comprehensive guidance and oversight for the protection, development, utilization, and restoration of the spatial area in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yangtze River Basin, acting as an important basis for local authorities to lay down and carry out spatial plans at all levels,” Miao Ze, deputy director of the Ministry of Natural Resources’ territorial space planning bureau, told a news conference.
The plan covers the land territory, inland waters, and related territorial waters of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yangtze River Basin. The land area of 2.4 million square kilometers includes 11 provinces or municipalities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and some county-level administrative regions in eight other provincial-level regions in the Yangtze River Basin. In total, it covers 1,173 county-level administrative regions.
Upholding the principle of China’s first national territorial space plan, issued in 2022, Miao said that management of the ecological environment, arable land, permanent basic farmland, and urban and rural development should be subject to a “red line” to protect food production and the area’s ecological, geological, cultural and historical features.
The plan said that by 2035, the ecological conservation red line in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yangtze River Basin should cover an area of no less than 806,600 sq km, and the area of arable land should be no less than 400,000 sq km, with a minimum of 330,000 sq km designated as permanent basic farmland. Urban development should be confined to an area of 79,700 sq km. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
