Resources Policy 25 (1999) 211–220

www.elsevier.com/locate/resourpol

Natural resources planning, management, and sustainable use in

China
*
Zhong Ziran
Department of Planning, Ministry of Land and Resources, 37 Guaningyuan West Area, West District, Beijing 10035, People’s Republic of
China

Received 14 July 1999; received in revised form 15 September 1999; accepted 19 September 1999

Abstract

Almost all the issues of sustainable development in China relate to natural resources. Sustainable development as one of the
most important strategies has been incorporated into all the actions related to the planning and management of natural resources
in China. This paper gives an overview of the contributions of natural resources and the challenges facing the natural resource
sectors. It contributes a series of proposals on the planning and management of natural resources. It also outlines the general
framework of the planning system for natural resources and summarizes the Great Survey of Natural Resources Program that the
Ministry of Land and Resources is implementing.  2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Natural resources; Sustainable development; Planning; Management; Natural resources survey

Introduction of laws relating to natural resources and environmental

Natural resources—land, mineral, water, and mar-
ine1—are fundamental to the existence and development
of human beings. Cultivated land resources are the basis
of agriculture. Mineral resources are the “food” of indus-
try. Water resources are the “blood” of both agriculture
and industry. China has a high population density and a
relative shortage of those natural resources that
importantly influence sustainable social and economic
development. The shortage of natural resources resulting
from the pressure of ever-growing population has caused
great environmental problems. Almost all problems in
sustainable development in China relate to natural
resources.
The Chinese Congress and the Chinese Government
have paid much attention to the conservation and rational
development and utilization of natural resources, and
ecologically sound environmental protection. The Stand-
ing Commission of the People’s Congress issued a series
* Tel.: +86-10-6612-7067; fax: +86-10-6612-7075.
E-mail address: zrzhong@mail.mlr.gov.cn (Z. Ziran)
1 2
Mineral resources, land resources and marine resources are under
the jurisdiction of the newly established Ministry of Land and
Resources (MOLAR).
protection, such as the Law on Mineral Resources2, the
Law on Land Management3, the Law on Environmental
Protection, the Law on Marine Environmental Protec-
tion4 and the Law on Water and Soil Conservation. The
State Council has taken a number of measures to enforce
the laws and regulations for the conservation of natural
resources and environmental protection. Since the World
Environment and Development Congress in 1992, the
Chinese Government has taken sustainable development
as a basic strategy for economic growth and social pro-
gress, and worked out CHINA’S AGENDA 21 and put
it into effect. The newly established Ministry of Land
and Resources (MOLAR) has been authorized to oversee
the planning, management, conservation and rational uti-
lization of land resources, mineral resources and marine
resources. The Chinese Government announced that
“China must get the population growth under control,
conserve natural resources and keep an ecologically
sound environment while it keeps sustainable economic
growth, which is a fundamental national policy of
It was first issued in 1986 and amended in 1996.
3
It was first issued in 1986, amended in 1988 and in 1998.
4
It is under amendment.

0301-4207/00/$ - see front matter  2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 0 1 - 4 2 0 7 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 2 8 - 8
212 Z. Ziran / Resources Policy 25 (1999) 211–220
China”. It is no doubt that sustainable development as a
very important strategy has been incorporated into all
actions relating to the planning and management of natu-
ral resources in China.
Contributions of natural resources to economic and
social development
The development and utilization of natural resources
have greatly contributed to the sustainable economic
growth and social progress during the past five decades.
Land development and land use have met the require-
ments of cultivated land for food production, and
requirements of land uses for urban and rural construc-
tion and for construction of infrastructure like energy,
transportation, and communications. Grain needed by
the population of China, accounting for 22 percent of
the whole population worldwide, has been supplied by
the Chinese people using the limited cultivated land,
accounting for 10 percent of the total in the world (Zhou
Rongkang, 1998)5, which is a miracle created by the
Chinese people (Li Yuan, 1999). The mineral industries
fed the energy industry, iron and steel industry, nonfer-
rous industry, electric power industry, chemical industry,
construction materials industry and textile industry, and
agriculture with energy, industrial raw materials and
other materials. Ninety-five percent of primary energy,
80 percent of industrial raw materials, 70 percent of agri-
cultural productive materials, over 30 percent of water
used for irrigating farmland and over one third of drink-
ing water are supplied by the mineral industries
(MOLAR, 1999). Since the early 1980s, the annual aver-
age rate of marine economic growth has kept at 22 per-
cent (Zhou Rongkang, 1998). Total output in value of
major marine industries accounts for 3–5 percent of the
GDP (Li Yuan, 1999)6.
Land resources
Great achievements have been seen in the surveying,
evaluation, development and utilization of land resources
during the past 50 years. Demands for the cultivated land
necessary to produce grain for all the population and the
land used for capital construction have been met through
planned land development and management. The Chi-
nese Government had organized three circles of the
national land-use survey and soil-reconnaissance survey,
made clear the types, area, location and use status of
land nationwide, which provides a scientific basis for
development, utilization, and management of land
5
Mr Zhou Rongkang is the Minister of the MOLAR.
6 7
It is obtained from China Marine Yearbook 1995, 1996, 1997,
compiled by The State Oceanographic Bureau that is under the Minis-
try of Land and Resources since 1998.
resources. Reclamation of wasteland and capital con-
struction on farmland effectively restrained the culti-
vated land from great reduction and improved the quality
of the cultivated land. The area of cultivated land
increased through reclamation of wasteland amounts to
33.33 million hectares (MOLAR, 1999). In addition to
the increase in the cultivated land, the past five decades
also saw the expansion of the area of other types of farm-
land, such as garden plots, forest land and grassland. The
area of the non-farmland has also increased during the
same period. At present, the non-farmland—including
land used for urban construction, for industries and
mines, for rural residential areas, and for transpor-
tation—accounts for about 3 percent of the total area of
land which has been developed and utilized, while the
percentage was 1 percent in 1949 (MOLAR, 1999).
The Chinese Government has done much to organize
the comprehensive preparation and management of terri-
torial land. The State organized to a large-scale the com-
prehensive preparation and management of hilly areas,
waters, farmland areas, forest land areas and roads. Up
to the end of 1998, the area of land suffering from water
loss and soil erosion that has been improved through
preparation and management amounts to 780,000 square
kilometers. The area of the farmland increased through
turning the wasteland into terraces and dam fields and
turning sand into cultivated land amounts to 11.87
million hectares (State Environment Administration,
1999). The state funded the demonstration projects on
preparation and management of land in 16 key regions.
Since 1978, the Chinese Government has made great
efforts to conduct forest cultivation and afforestation
programs—constructing large systems of comprehensive
shelter forest in the North-Western, Northern and North-
Eastern regions, and in the upper- and middle-stream of
Yantze River, in the coastal areas, in agricultural areas
in plains and in Taihan Mountains areas, which greatly
upgraded the ecological environment in China. Great
attention has also been given to improving low- and
medium-yield fields and land reclamation, turning 18.6
million hectares of water-logged land, 46 million hec-
tares of saline and alkaline land and 3.5 million hectares
of land suffering from floodwater into high quality culti-
vated land, and turning over 400,000 hectares of a var-
iety of wasteland into farmland through land reclamation
(MOLAR, 1999)7.
Mineral resources
Exploration and exploitation of mineral resources
have successfully met the requirements of national econ-
These data are obtained from The Development and Management
of Natural Resources in RESOURCES and INDUSTRY journal, no.
6, 1999, p23-24.
 Z. Ziran / Resources Policy 25 (1999) 211–220
omic and social development. Up to the end of 1998, 171
varieties of mineral resources located in 200,000 mineral
occurrences had been discovered, and 153 varieties of
mineral resources located in 20,000 mineral deposits had
been identified through detailed geological works8. In
1998, the total output of solid mineral commodities
amounted to 3.23 billion tons. Crude oil output equaled
161 million tons, and natural gas 22 billion cubic met-
ers9. The output in value of the mineral industries was
340.7 billion RMB yuan, accounting for 4.3 percent of
the GDP10, and the output value of the mineral industries
as well as the mineral-based industries accounted for
about 30 percent of the GDP last year. The amount in
value of international trade of minerals and mineral-
based commodities was 47.4 billion US dollars, account-
ing for about 15 percent of total international trade in
the country in 199811. The amount of imported mineral
products was 27.5 billion US dollars, with exports equal
to 19.9 US dollars. In 1997, foreign investment for min-
eral projects amounted to 7.15 billion US dollars,
accounting for 6.3 percent of all mineral investment in
China’s mineral industries, both domestic and inter-
national. The scale and scope of exploration and devel-
opment of mineral resources overseas has expanded year
by year. More than 300 mining cities and towns, such
as Daqing (oil and natural gas), Jixi, Pindingshan (coal),
Jingchuan (nickel), Gejiu (tin), have been established
with mineral development.
Since 1995, as a result of the Special Program for
Discovering Underground Water in the North-Western
Region, high quality underground water has been disco-
vered in desert and other dry areas in Xinjiang, Gansu,
Qinghai, Ningxia and the Western part of Inner Mongo-
lia, which achieves the breakthrough of discovering
underground water in the North-Western region of China
both in theory and in practice.
Marine resources
During the past decades, great achievements have
been reached in marine resources development and util-
ization. The output in value of the marine industries was
6.4 billion RMB yuan in 1979, and reached 43.8 billion
RMB yuan in 1990 and 310.3 billion RMB yuan in 1997.
Output of marine aquatic products was 21.76 million
8
According to The Notification of the MOLAR on the Mineral
Resources of China 1999.
9
According to China Mining Yearbook 1999, published by the
MOLAR.
10
According to the Statistical Bulletin of the MOLAR on Natural
Resources 1998, published by the MOLAR and China Statistics Year-
book 1999, published by the State Statistics Bureau.
11
It is based on The Statistical Communique of the People’s Repub-
lic of China on the 1998 National Economic and Social Development,
issued by the State Statistics Bureau, People’s Daily, 28, February
1999.
213
tons, crude salt 29.28 million tons in 1997, ranking num-
ber one in the world. The handling capacity of major
coastal seaports amounted to 90,500 tons, and compre-
hensive tonnage of ships built 2.39 million tons, ranking
the second position in the world. The freight volume of
goods for international trade through shipping accounts
for 70 percent of the total in China12. The output of mar-
ine crude oil was 16 million tons, and natural gas 4.0
billion cubic meters in 199813. An exploration area with
75,000 square kilometers targeting multi-metallic nodule
resources has been successfully delineated in an inter-
national seabed region in the Pacific Ocean as a result
of great efforts during the past 10 years (Information
Office of the State Council of China, 1998)14. China will
have privileged priority to conduct commercial develop-
ment of that region in the future.
Geological environment
Geological environment management is a function
conferred to the former Ministry of Geology and Mineral
Resources (MGMR) as of the reorganization of the State
Council of China in 1988. The past decade has seen great
progress in planning, legislation and enforcement of geo-
logical environmental protection. In 1990, the former
MGMR, jointly with the State Planning Commission
(SPC) and the State Science and Technology Com-
mission, issued the Outline of the National Plan for Pre-
venting and Controlling Geological Disasters. Geologi-
cal environmental protection has been included in the
Ninth Five-year-plan (1996–2000) for National Environ-
ment Protection and Perspective Objectives by the Year
2010. The former MGMR issued the Provisions on Man-
agement of Geological Relics Protection under which 51
natural reserves for geological relics have been estab-
lished. In recent years, the former MGMR successfully
conducted a number of projects on the prevention and
mitigation of great geological disasters, including the
well-known projects at Lianziya in the Three Gorges in
Yantze River and at Huangnashi, strengthened the pre-
vention and mitigation of geological disasters during the
flood season, worked out the program for preventing and
controlling geological disasters, publicized knowledge
on disaster resistant and provision of disaster relief, and
conducted the monitoring and forecast of geological dis-
asters. The MOLAR successfully forecast 48 big land-
slides, mud-and-rock flows, and other types of geologi-
cal disasters, avoiding casualties of at least 2 400 persons
12
Above figures in this paragraph are based the China Marine Stat-
istics Yearbook 1998.
13
According to the Statistical Bulletin of the MOLAR on Natural
Resources 1998, published by the MOLAR in 1999.
14
It is based on The Development of China’s Marine Programs
(White Book), published by the Information Office of the State Council
of China 1998.
214 Z. Ziran / Resources Policy 25 (1999) 211–220
and reducing economic loss during the big flooding per-
iod in 1998 (Ministry of Land and Resources, 1999)15.
Current status and problems of natural resources
China is quite short of cultivated land, mineral
resources and water due to overpopulation. Per capita
area of cultivated land accounts for 43 percent of the
average in the world 16, per capita tonnage of mineral
resources 58 percent (Zhou Rongkang, 1999)17, and per
capita amount of fresh water 25 percent18. Sustainable,
speedy, and stable economic development has been
restricted by the shortage of natural resources mentioned
above. Furthermore, environmental problems have
become more and more severe with the recent high rates
of economic growth and expanding development of
natural resources.
A. Reduction of cultivated land, and water loss and
soil erosion
Forty million hectares of cultivated land had were
reduced by erosion during the period of 1958–198619.
That is to say, 1.4 million hectares of cultivated land
were reduced each year during that period. The reduction
of cultivated land has been got under control as a result
of implementation of the Law on Land Management
since 1986. However, the reduced cultivated land still
was more than 130,000 hectares and 200,000 hectares,
respectively, in 1997 and in 1998 (Zhou Rongkang,
1999). Reserve cultivated land resources are of shortage,
and mainly located in the areas short of water. Another
important issue is land deterioration. Twenty percent of
the cultivated land has been contaminated by polluted
water, gas and waste slag derived from industrial activi-
ties and pesticide. The area of the deteriorated, sandized
and alkalized grassland amounts to 135 million hectares,
and will increase at a rate of 2 million hectares per year.
The area of land suffering from water loss and soil ero-
sion amounts to 3.67 million square kilometers, account-
15
The data in this paragraph are obtained from The Development
and Management of Natural Resources in RESOURCES and INDUS-
TRY journal, no. 6, 1999, p30.
16
It is obtained from the Communique of the People’s Republic of
China on the 1998 Environmental Status, issued by the State Environ-
ment Administration, 1999.
17
It is obtained from Zhou Rongkang, 1998, Natural resources and
sustainable development, RESOURCES and INDUSTRY, No. 6,
1999, p8.
18
It is obtained from the Communique of the People’s Republic of
China on the 1998 Environmental Status, issued by the State Environ-
ment Administration, 1999.
19
It is obtained from Zhou Rongkang, 1998. Natural resources must
be conserved and rationally utilized to upgrade ecological environ-
ment.
ing for 38 percent of all territorial land nationwide. The
area of the desertified land area amounts to 2.62 million
square kilometers20.
B. Problems in mineral availability and development
Oversupply and structural shortage of mineral pro-
ducts are both issues. Early next century will see a
decline in domestic-source supply capacity of important
mineral products if no further measures are taken. Min-
eral resources are exploited with quite low recovery.
Consumption of energy and minerals per unit of gdp is
much higher than in the developed nations, even higher
than in other developing countries, for example, India
and Brazil. Mining activities have caused severe
environmental pollution. According to statistics, 14,000–
20,000 square kilometers of land are encroached or dam-
aged directly by open pit mining and the stockpiling of
all kinds of waste slag, waste rock and tailings. The area
of encroached or damaged land is increasing at a rate of
200 square kilometers per year. Eighty-seven thousand
hectares of collapsed surface of land have been caused
by mining activities to date. The polluted water dis-
charged by the mineral industries accounts for over 10
percent of the total industrial waste water nationwide21.
C. Shortage of fresh water and water pollution and
disasters
The total amount of continental fresh water is 3272.6
billion cubic meters per year, and underground water
940 billion cubic meters per year in China (Ministry of
Water Conservancy, 1999)22. However, per capita quan-
tities of water are only 2732 cubic meters. Water
resources in China are characterized by richness in the
South and shortage in the North, richness in the East and
shortage in the West. The concentration of water
location is greatly different from that of population and
the cultivated land, which makes it necessary to convey
water from distant areas straddling big river basins. The
quantity of water resources greatly changes from year to
year and from season to season within a year (as a result
of floods and droughts), which brings great difficulties
in developing and using water resources. Some sources
of surface waters are severely polluted. Mud silting often
occurs in rivers, which brings difficulties in preventing
and controlling floods.
20
These data in this paragraph are based on The National Program
for Integrated Planning for Land Use 1997–2010.
21
These data in this paragraph are based on Mr Zhou Rongkang’s
paper titled Natural Resources Must be Conserved and Rationally Util-
ized to Upgrade Ecological Environment, 1998.
22
The data are based on The Communique of the People’s Republic
of China on Water Resources, issued by the Ministry of Water Con-
servancy in 1999.
 Z. Ziran / Resources Policy 25 (1999) 211–220
It becomes increasing important to explore for and
develop underground water resources due to lack of sur-
face fresh water. Water resources are not enough to meet
requirements for supplying more than 400 cities in all
671 cities nationwide (Jiang Xiaofeng, 1999). Shortage
of water has resulted in a great amount of cultivated land
and grassland to be put aside as useless and in quick
expansion of the desertified land. Economic and social
development has been restricted due to shortage of water
in dry areas in the North-Western region and in the karst-
stone mountainous areas in the South-Western region.
The overuse of underground water causes land surface
sinking, subsidence, fissure, and leads to reduction or
interception of spring water flows and encroachment of
the sea water, especially in the coastal areas. The
recharged sources of underground water in the down-
stream areas are reduced due to interception of surface
water in the upstream areas. The polluted surface water
leads to deteriorating quality of underground water in
some areas.
D. Irrational utilization of marine resources and
environmental pollution in the neritic zones (offshore
areas)
Recently, fishery resources in the neritic zones have
decreased due to overcatching. Mangrove swamps and
coral reefs suffer from damages, and biodiversity falls.
The marine environment is polluted by 8 billion tons of
the contaminated industrial and living water and a great
amount of industrial residue and contaminated oil, dis-
charged into the sea. Three hundred and eighty red tides
caused by marine pollution often occurred in the coastal
waters in China seas during the period 1980–1997. In
the 1990s, more than 30 red tides occurred each year
(Zhou Rongkang, 1998). Economic loss caused by mar-
ine disasters accounts for about 10 percent of that caused
by all kinds of natural disasters23.
E. Geological disasters
China is one of the nations in the world that suffers
most from geological disasters. Thousands of people
died of geological disasters each year in China,
exceeding mortality due to flooding. Economic loss
caused by geological disasters averages 27 billion RMB
yuan each year, accounting for about 25 percent econ-
omic loss caused by all natural disasters (Zhou Rong-
kang, 1998). In 1998, 80,000 geological disasters,
including landslides, mud-and-rock flows, etc., occurred,
causing 1573 deaths, 10,000 injured persons, and
23
It is based on The Development of China’s Marine Programs
(White Book), published by the Information Office of the State Council
of China, 1998.
215
500,000 damaged or destroyed dwellings, as well as the
holding up of traffic on several main transportation lines
for a few days—causing economic losses of over 10
billion RMB yuan24.
Managing natural resources for sustainable
development
Generally speaking, the management system for natu-
ral resources has been kept in line with the requirements
by the restructuring of the economic system, and effec-
tive measures have been taken to reinforce the govern-
mental functions relating to management of land, min-
eral, and marine resources. The Ministry of Land and
Resources (MOLAR) was estabblished out of the former
MGMR, former State Bureau of Land Management,
State Oceanographic Bureau and State Bureau of Map-
ping and Survey. The previously decentralized manage-
ment of the different varieties of natural resources in the
various government departments became relatively uni-
fied and centralized under the jurisdiction of one govern-
ment department. The MOLAR pays much attention to
enforcing the strategy of sustainable development.
A. Land management
Great efforts have been made to protect the cultivated
land and improve the ecological environment. A number
of measures on land management have aimed at the run-
ning balance of the total area of cultivated land. The
integrated planning for land use at five levels has been
worked out to get the existing area of cultivated land
under strict control. Land uses for capital construction
and land registration must be subject to the integrated
planning for land use. The use of cultivated land for vari-
ous urban and rural construction projects is strictly
restricted; the use of unused land is encouraged. The
rules and regulations on protecting fundamental farm-
land will be further updated and perfected to reach the
objective set by the newly amended Law on Land Man-
agement. The ratio of the area of fundamental farmland
to the area of cultivated land must exceed 80% in any
province nationwide. It is encouraged to expand land
arrangement and moderately develop the land to be used
to increase the area of the cultivated land. The traditional
land use mechanism will be reformed to set up and per-
fect new mechanisms aimed at protecting the cultivated
land and intensive use of land. It is under way to conduct
dynamic monitoring of land use of the whole country
and conduct direct monitoring over the expansion of the
24
It is obtained from the Communique of the People’s Republic of
China on the 1998 Environmental Status, issued by the State Environ-
ment Administration, 1999.
216 Z. Ziran / Resources Policy 25 (1999) 211–220
land used for urban construction. The information
derived from monitoring will be open to the public. In
addition, it is planned to return the farmland formed in
the mode of excessive reclamation and enclosing tide-
land for cultivation to forest land, pasture land, and
lakes.
B. Mineral resources management
Mineral resources will be utilized and managed such
that they are protected and rationally developed. The
Ministry is organizing the drafting of mineral resources
plans so as to get effective control of the exploration and
exploitation of mineral resources. It is required to use
“two sources of resources and two markets”, both dom-
estic and international, to guarantee the supply of energy
and minerals demanded by national economic and social
development early in the next century, which will be
incorporated in formulating national mineral planning
and mineral policy. It is planned to reinforce mineral
rights management targeting the establishment of a nor-
mal order of the exploration and development of mineral
resources without illegal mining action. The mineral
rights management agencies must review mining plans
and environmental impact statements when reviewing
applications for mining rights, and conduct supervision
over mining operations at the stage of mine production,
both aiming at promoting rational and effective exploi-
tation of mineral resources and protecting the ecological
environment. Effective economic policy and technology
policy must be formulated and enforced to encourage
the holders of mineral rights to conduct comprehensive
exploration, comprehensive evaluation and comprehen-
sive utilization of mineral resources, and raise recovery
of mineral resources. It is encouraged to lower consump-
tion of energy and minerals needed to produce each yuan
of GDP, economize in raw materials, and conduct
research and development of substitute products for min-
eral resources.
C. Marine resources management
China’s Marine Agenda 21 has been and will be
implemented to rationally develop marine resources and
protect the marine environment. It is strengthened to
carry out comprehensive development and management
of the epilittoral zones, rationally develop the neritic
zones, and participate in developing the international
seabed under the framework of United Nations Conven-
tion on the Law of the Sea. It is reinforced to get the
land-sourced pollutants under strict control and set an
upper limit on total pollutants to avoid degradation of the
marine environment. It is reinforced to exercise marine
biological resources management, and to continue to set
up and protect marine natural reserves. Great efforts will
be made to keep good quality of sea water; mitigate
environmental pollution and ecological damages in off-
shore areas; improve environmental quality in some
major river mouths, gulf and sea areas suffering from
severe pollution; avoid the occurrence of new ecological
damages; and minimize the effects of marine disasters.
It is strengthened to carry out research and development
of marine science and technology, establish comprehen-
sive marine management mechanisms and participate in
international cooperation in marine fields.
D. Geological environment management
Prevention and control of geological disasters must be
reinforced as one of the most important tasks of the Min-
istry. It is planned to conduct the program on survey and
assessment of geological disasters nationwide to find out
the patterns of occurrence and location of geological dis-
asters and delineate the frequently occurring areas of
geological disasters. It is planned to work out the
national planning for prevention and control of geologi-
cal disasters and the planning for prevention and control
of geological disasters in major areas. It is under way to
establish the system for monitoring, forecasting and pre-
warning geological disasters to release information on
geological disasters to the public in a timely manner.
Natural resources planning
Natural resources planning (Zhong Ziran, 1999)25 is
one of the most important tools that the state exercises
in overseeing the surveying, exploration, development,
utilization, and conservation of natural resources, as a
basis for effective management. It is also one of most
significant approaches to achieving the objective of sus-
tainable use of natural resources. The natural resources
planning system of China consists of land resources
planning, mineral resources planning, marine resources
planning, geological environment planning and spatial
planning.
A. Land resources planning
Land resources planning consists of integrated plan-
ning, yearly planning, and special planning for land use.
The integrated planning for land use is worked out at
five levels of government, i.e. the national, provincial,
prefecture, county, and village-and-town levels. The spe-
cial planning for land use consists of planning for pro-
tecting fundamental farmland, for land arrangement, for
25
This part is based on Zhong Ziran’s Natural Resources Planning,
Chapter 13 of the advanced textbook for senior management titled
Natural Resources Management, edited by the MOLAR, Geological
Publisher, 1999.
 Z. Ziran / Resources Policy 25 (1999) 211–220
land reclamation, for developing the land to be used, and
for urban land use.
Integrated planning for land use refers to the inte-
grated arrangements and layout in time and space for the
development, utilization, arrangement and protection of
land resources in an administrative region made under
the specific natural, economic and social conditions in
that region, according to the requirements for sustainable
social and economic development. The state will ration-
ally allocate land resources among the different indus-
trial sectors through integrated planning for land use.
The blocks of land designated for cultivated land in the
integrated planning for land uses must be used for culti-
vation, while the blocks of land designated for forest
land must be used for forestry. As stipulated in the Law
on Land Management, the state formulates the integrated
plans for land use to designate the uses of land and class-
ify land as the land used for agriculture, construction,
and other types of land. The state strictly controls the
turning of land used for agriculture into land used for
construction. The state strictly controls the total area of
land used for construction. The state protects cultivated
land. That is to say integrated planning for land use is
the basis for land-use control. Every unit or individual
must use land according to the land uses designated by
integrated plan for land use.
In the middle 1980s, the Chinese Government began
to formulate and enforce the Outline for National Inte-
grated Planning for Land Use 1986–2000. Since 1996,
the Chinese Government has organized another circle of
integrated planning for land use. So far, the Outline for
National Integrated Planning for Land Use 1997–2010
was completed and approved by the State Council. The
integrated plans for land use 1997–2010 in 31 provinces
have been completed and submitted to the State Council
for approval one by one. The integrated plans for land
use at the prefecture-level and lower are under formu-
lation or pre-review.
The major objectives of land use for the period 1997
to 2010 stipulated in the Outline for National Integrated
Planning for Land Use 1997–2010 are:
(a) The land used for agriculture, especially cultivated
land, must be conserved, and kept under comprehensive
arrangement and management;
(b) The total area of land used for construction must
be effectively controlled under the precondition of
guaranteeing the supply of land used for key capital con-
struction projects and infrastructure construction pro-
jects;
(c) It is required to conduct land arrangement pro-
grams in an all-round way and moderately develop the
land to be used; and
(d) The land ecological environment must be obvi-
ously upgraded.
The Outline for National Integrated Planning for Land
Use 1997–2010 establishes indices or targets for:
217
앫 major uses of land;
앫 the remaining area of cultivated land, nationwide and
in 31 provinces;
앫 the area of fundamental farmland, nationwide and in
31 provinces;
앫 control of the total area of land used for newly
increased capital construction projects;
앫 the area of cultivated land increased through land
arrangements and development of the land to be used;
앫 the area of returning cultivated land to forest land,
grassland and lakes;
앫 the area of land increased through improving land suf-
fering from water loss and soil erosion;
앫 the area of the improved desertified land;
앫 the area of remaking hillslide farmland; and
앫 the area of the improved deteriorated, sandized and
alkalized grassland.
B. Mineral resources planning
The planning system for mineral resources consists of
national integrated planning for mineral resources and
also mineral resources planning at provincial, prefecture
and mineral-rich county levels. Special planning—
including national planning for geological exploration,
for developing and protecting mineral resources, and for
protecting the mine environment—will be worked out
under national integrated planning for mineral resources.
In China, the program for mineral resources planning
is just starting. The ministry is drafting the Outline for
National Integrated Planning for Mineral Resources
1999–2015. It is formulating the Provisions on Adminis-
tration of Mineral Resources Planning and organizing
the drafting of demonstration planning for provincial
mineral resources planning.
Under the guide of the strategy on sustainable devel-
opment, the Outline for the National Integrated Planning
for Mineral Resources will target three major objectives
as follows:
앫 to change the mode of the development and utilization
of mineral resources from the extensive to the inten-
sive, so as to achieve effective conservation and
rational development and utilization of mineral
resources;
앫 to use “two sources of resources and two markets”,
both domestic and international, to guarantee the sup-
ply of energy and minerals needed by national econ-
omic and social development; and
앫 to upgrade the mine environment.
The following contents will be included in the Outline
for the National Integrated Planning for Mineral
Resources:
218 Z. Ziran / Resources Policy 25 (1999) 211–220
앫 surveying and exploration for mineral resources,
onshore and offshore;
앫 mineral development;
앫 introduction of foreign investment in the mineral
industries in China;
앫 import and export of mineral commodities;
앫 exploration and development of mineral resources
overseas;
앫 conservation and rational development of mineral
resources; and
앫 protection of the mine environment.
C. Marine resources planning
The State Oceanographic Bureau, jointly with the rel-
evant departments under the State Council and the coas-
tal provinces, worked out China’s Marine Function Zon-
ing Program during the period 1989–1995, and worked
out the National Plan for Marine Development during
the period 1991–1994. The Marine Function Zoning Pro-
gram and the National Plan for Marine Development
greatly contribute to the scientific and effective manage-
ment of marine resources.
Marine function zoning refers to a marine manage-
ment program under which a specific sea region is div-
ided into different types of marine function units on the
criteria for various function areas. A marine function
area is the area having a specific main function, benefit-
ing rational development and utilization of marine
resources and creating optimal effectiveness, delimited
according to the natural conditions, environmental status
and geographic location in that sea region and the adjac-
ent continental region and in consideration of the current
situation of marine development and utilization and the
requirements by economic and social development.
China’s Marine Function Zoning Program designates
3 663 marine function areas, including the function areas
for development and utilization, for environmental miti-
gation and protection, and for natural reserves, as well
as special function areas and the reserved areas.
D. Geological environment protection planning
It is one of the new responsibilities conferred to the
MOLAR to work out and implement the planning for
geological environment protection. Geological environ-
ment protection will mainly involve the prevention and
mitigation of geological disasters, protection of geologi-
cal relics and protection of geological environment in
specific areas, such as mines, urban areas, agricultural
areas, epilittoral zones and big river basins. Accordingly,
the geological environment protection planning system
consists of integrated and specific planning in these
areas. At present, geological environment protection
planning is at its initial step. The Ministry is drafting the
national plan for prevention and mitigation of geologi-
cal disasters.
E. Spatial planning
Spatial planning refers to the integrated arrangements
for comprehensive development of natural resources,
rational allocation of productive forces and mitigation
of environmental pollution, aiming at coordinating the
relationships among economic development and popu-
lation, natural resources and environment nationwide or
in a specific region.
As mentioned above, great efforts have been made to
conduct the programs on territorial development and
management, and as a result, great achievements have
been reached during the past five decades. However,
there were a number of problems in this field. Prior to
1980s, the works of territorial development and manage-
ment were implemented by different sectors according
to respective programs, without integrated planning and
consolidated management. It was also less considered to
coordinate the relationships among economic develop-
ment and population, natural resources and environment.
As well-known, China is characterized by vast territory,
high population density, a less developed economy and
culture, unbalanced economic and social development in
different regions, lower per capita use of natural
resources, and natural resources and ecological environ-
ment suffering from severe damages. Under such con-
ditions, it is necessary to conduct comprehensive terri-
torial development and management, according to an
integrated spatial plan to reach the objectives on scien-
tific and rational development and utilization, rational
allocation of productive forces and coordinating the
relationship among economic growth and population,
natural resources and environment, benefiting the con-
temporaries and the future generations.
In this regard, the Chinese Government decided to
conduct spatial planning (i.e. the planning for territorial
development and management) in 1981. As authorized
by the State Council, the former State Construction
Commission started to make first-phase preparations for
compiling the spatial plan. In April 1982, the former
State Construction Commission was dismissed. The
Bureau of Territorial Resources was established under
the State Planning Commission to be responsible for ter-
ritorial planning. During the period 1982–1984, the State
Planning Commission (SPC) organized the drafting of
demonstration spatial plans in more than 20 regions.
Beginning in 1985, the SPC compiled the Draft Outline
for National Integrated Spatial Planning. Most provinces
and some prefectures and counties completed the compi-
lation of spatial plans. In addition, the SPC organized
the compilation of spatial planning and regional planning
in the areas straddling administrative regions, mainly
including the regional plans in the South-Western and
 Z. Ziran / Resources Policy 25 (1999) 211–220
Southern areas, the Yantze River delta, and some areas
bordering the Yantze River. Those plans played
important roles in formulating the seventh, eighth and
ninth five-year plans for national economic and social
development.
According to the program on the reorganization of the
State Council in early 1998, the functions on spatial
planning and territorial development and management
transferred from the SPC to the MOLAR. We in
MOLAR are studying the experiences and lessons of ter-
ritorial development and management during the past 50
years and in spatial planning during the past 18 years.
We also are analysing the development and planning
issues facing us in the future so as to make preparations
necessary to compile the Outline for National Integrated
Spatial Planning 2000–2020.
Great survey of natural resources program
The MOLAR is implementing the Great Survey of
Natural Resources Program to conduct a comprehensive
survey and assessment of land resources, mineral
resources, marine resources and geological environment
in the Chinese territory and the sea areas under the juris-
diction of China for the period 1999 to 2010.
The Great Survey aims at providing a scientific basis
for planning and management of natural resources, offer-
ing services in natural resources information for
decision-making by government agencies and for uses
by the public.
The major tasks under the Great Survey of Natural
Resources Program are:
(a) To further conduct comprehensive surveys and
assessment of land resources, mineral resources, under-
ground water and marine resources and basic mapping
and surveying on the basis of works in the previous
years;
(b) To conduct surveys and assessment of land
resources to provide a scientific basis for reinforcing
land management to reach the desired total area of culti-
vated land;
(c) To conduct surveys and evaluation of the potential
for discovering mineral resources and ascertain the
potential for discovering the minerals of which China is
urgently short;
(d) To conduct surveys of the geological and ecologi-
cal environment, aiming at ascertaining geological and
ecological background in the major economic zones and
big river basins to work out measures for prevention and
treatment of geological disasters;
(e) To conduct surveys and assessment of high risk
areas for geological disasters and work out the program
on prevention and control of geological disasters;
(f) To fully understand the general characteristics of
marine territory and to conduct the survey and assess-
ment of marine mineral resources.
219
The Great Survey of Natural Resources Program con-
sists of one plan and five projects:
Basic survey plan
A comprehensive survey and assessment is planned,
using techniques of regional geology, regional hydro-
geology, regional engineering geology, regional environ-
mental geology, regional geophysical prospecting,
regional chemical prospecting and remote sensing. It will
produce the base-map series, on the basis of previous
working results and according to new tasks and technical
requirements. The map series will reflect the fruits from
the survey and assessment of land resources, mineral and
marine resources, and ecological and geological environ-
ment, and the updating of existing base maps through
supplementing and revising the existing information
materials, to meet demands by land management, geo-
logical exploration, engineering construction, environ-
mental management and geo-scientific research.
Mineral resources survey and assessment project
This project will concentrate on the assessment of
geological potential for discovering mineral resources in
important mineralized zones, and on the discovery and
assessment of a set of new mineral occurrences and
underground water sources in short-of-water regions.
Pre-warning of geological disasters project
This project will focus on working out the planning
for the survey and prevention and control of geological
disasters in the frequently-occurring zones so as to min-
imize the effects of geological disasters; conducting the
assessment and pre-warning of geological disasters such
as landslides, mud-and-rock flows in important econ-
omic zones and along main transportation lines to put
forward the measures for prevention and control and pro-
vide basis for drafting the plan for prevention and control
of geological disasters; establishing demonstration moni-
toring stations and databases for typical geological disas-
ters in key regions; and conducting research on the for-
mative mechanism of geological disasters, location of
geological disasters in time and space and current crus-
tal deformation.
The following subprojects will be included under
this project:
(a) a special survey of geological disasters in the
Three Gorges reservoir area;
(b) a survey, forecast, and pre-warning of the slowly-
deforming geological disasters in Shanghai economic
zones;
(c) a special survey and assessment of geological dis-
asters in the frequently-occurring zones, and;
(d) construction of a network of stations for demon-
220 Z. Ziran / Resources Policy 25 (1999) 211–220
stratively-monitoring geological disasters and a system
for pre-warning of geological disasters.
Survey and monitoring of land resources project
This project will evaluate the potential for increasing
cultivated land through land arrangement, development,
and reclamation; conduct a survey and monitoring of
land use; establish the national land use database; con-
duct an urban and rural cadastral survey; conduct a sur-
vey and assessment of the quality and quantity of land;
complete the grading of land and evaluation of land costs
for agricultural lands and furnish the grading of land and
the assessment and updating of reference land costs for
urban land; conduct a survey on returning cultivated land
into the previous class of land nationwide and on the
environmental problems caused by land use; and conduct
research on the theory and techniques for the classi-
fication and standardization of land resources, and
changes in land use and the sustainable use of land
resources.
Numeralization of territory project
This project will analyze, screen, and numeralize the
existing natural resources information to provide infor-
mation services for decision-making by government
agencies and the public; establish a natural resources dat-
abase and map base; and establish the rules and regu-
lations on submission and sharing of information.
Technological development of natural resources survey
and utilization project
This project will focus on research and development
of advanced technology and instruments to improve
techniques in surveying, exploration, development and
management of natural resources, including protection
of the ecological and geological environment.
Conclusions
The planning, management, conservation and rational
utilization of natural resources are critical to reaching
the objective of sustainable economic and social devel-
opment in China. The MOLAR is responsible for these
activities. As requested by the Central Government, the
MOLAR has focused on (a) strengthening land manage-
ment, especially with respect to conserving cultivated
land; (b) reinforcing the survey, assessment, and scien-
tific planning for natural resources, to contribute to
national economic and social development; (c) con-
structing an information system for natural resources to
provide information services to the public; (d) estab-
lishing new systems and operating mechanisms for natu-
ral resources management, in line with the deepening
reform of the socialist market-economy system; and (e)
strengthening legislation and administrative enforcement
to strive for normal and sound systems for land use man-
agement and mining operations. It is believed that these
works will greatly contribute to the sustainable use of
natural resources into the next century.
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