Meeting focuses on land use, protection

Protection of land resources and polluted soil remediation were the focus of the first Sino-US Land Engineering Academic Exchange Conference that was held in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, on Monday.

The two-day meeting delved into issues that have become an obstacle for sustainable development such as land reduction, deterioration, resource mismatch and contradictions in use. It was hosted by Shaanxi's provincial land resources department and Foreign Experts Bureau and sponsored by the US-based International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and Shaanxi Provincial Land Engineering Construction Group.

Sun Jiulin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said China faces prominent shortages of land resources due to its large population, adding that the country should focus on cherishing and rationally using land, especially areas that are cultivated.

"China leads the world in land remediation," said Sun. "Between 2011 and 2014, the central government invested 183.68 billion yuan ($28.4 billion) to remediate 8.655 million hectares of land and achieved fruitful results."

Uma Ramesh, chief operating officer of ICMA, said the association had implemented more than 500 international development programs in 60 countries, creating excellence in local governance and boosting awareness of land resource protection and polluted soil remediation.

A statement issued following the conference, dubbed the Xi'an Declaration, called for land resource protection to be strengthened and land localization, specialization and rationalization to be realized.

The declaration said a process known as "land engineering" must be adopted to support remediation work and the rational use of land.

"Land engineering studies land demand; strives to restore or construct clean and ecological soil mass that can support the construction of human civilization; guarantees its health by means of scientific engineering technologies; further ensures that we live in harmony with all life on earth and even looks to explore the universe to enlarge our living space," the declaration said.

According to Han Jichang, general manager of Shaanxi Provincial Land Engineering Construction Group, land engineering can be used to make unused land usable, improve the efficiency of used land coordinate the harmonious development of our relationship with the land.