Reclamation Project Frenzy in China（在线收听）

Reclamation projects in some Chinese coastline cities have become shortcuts to develop local economies. With lower costs, local governments usually encourage real estate developers to reclaim land from the sea, but at the same time, such model has also triggered serious ecological concerns.

Let's take a closer look with our reporter Liu Min.

 
Along one coastal road in Yantai, huge, catchy, commercial real estate billboards read, 'This is the perfect place to make your seaside dream house a reality'.

A sales representative at a sea-view apartment sales-center based in Yantai City, Shandong Province says there are many customers recently coming to consult buying such real estate.

"This new community is located between beaches, facing the sea. The price ranges from 5000 yuan to 8000 yuan per square meter. The property ownership period is 70 years."

At the same time, trucks with loads of stones and earth are shuttling non-stop to the seaside. In a few years, an artificial island will be built on this piece of land in Yantai. The sea will disappear both in front of our eyes and on the map.

Deputy Director of Yan Tai Longkou Land and Resources Bureau Han Maozhi says reclamation projects which fill the sea with land are now being more frequently adopted by coastal cities to ease land resource pressure.

"The Longkou area lacks sufficient resources for future development. We only have 50 thousand Mu of land to explore every year. So, we don't have enough land to develop the necessary infrastructure and public facilities, including building roads and schools, not to mention land for industrial purposes."

Due to limited land resources, reclamation has become a major way to increase land usage in this kind of coastal cities. Plus, the reclamation projects don't use up the limited quota of industrial and agricultural land resources. Also, they can dodge the more difficult problems of resident relocation.

Professor Liu Hongbin from the Ocean University of China says by filling up the sea with earth, local governments and companies can make huge profits.

"The cost of reclamation varies based on the location of different areas along the coast, ranging from less than 10 thousand yuan to 300 thousand yuan per Mu. But after the reclamation project finishes and the local government auctions the land, the profit margin could reach as high as tenfold or even a hundred-fold."

According to the statistics from the State Oceanic Administration, by 2010, the reclamation area in China had reached 13.6 hectares in total. Provinces like Shandong, Liaoning and Hainan are among the most enthusiastic to adopt reclamation as their major land development strategy.

But according to related law, the local government needs to report to the State Council for approval on reclamation projects covering an area of more than 50 hectares, or an enclosing tideland of more than 100 hectares. However, many cities have been violating the law. The only thing that has been done to rectify is to impose monetary fines. Professor Liu Hongbin says that if such situations continue, it would do great damage to the country's limited coastline resources.

"Large reclamation project needs to present feasibility study with contrasting opinions provided by two different teams of professionals. The local government should make a final decision based on that."

According to marine experts, excessive development will unavoidably bring an increasing amount of pollutant into the sea; unreasonable reclamation may also damage marine products, as well as affecting flood control and shipping.

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.