Ningbo's total land area reaches ​​2,400,216 acres

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Category: Governmental News

Published: Tuesday, 10 April 2012 09:49

By the end of 2011, Ningbo had a total land area of 14,570,000 mu(2,400,216 acres), an increase of 3 million mu over 2006, according to the latest statistics released by Municipal Land and Resources Bureau. The figure represents a per capita arable land of 0.57 mu, less than the provincial average of 0.73 mu or the national average of 1.39 mu.

The statistics show 10,170,000 mu of the total land is for agricultural use, which accounts for 69.8%. The figure consists 3,296,000 mu arable land, 55,760,000mu forest land, and 6,970,000 mu garden land. Besides, 2,630,000 mu is for construction use, which accounts for18.1%. The rest 1,770,000 mu remains unused, accounting for 12.1%.

According to the statistics, the land use to boost GDP growth this year saw a substantial decrease over 2006. Ningbo takes lead on the thrift and intensive utilization of land in Zhejiang Province.

An official from Municipal Land and Resources Bureau said, "The rational use of industrial land is key to the intensive utilization of land. We need to develop new mechanisms to promote the thrift and intensive utilization of land. Besides, we will step up the supervision and approval procedures of land use, and we vows to crack down on land hoarding and speculation."

(note: 1 acre is approximately equal to 6.07 Mu)

More coal-fired boilers to be shut down

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Category: Governmental News

Published: Tuesday, 10 April 2012 09:46

Since this January, ten coal-fired boilers in the National Hi-tech Zone in Ningbo have been shut down. More coal-fired boilers will be closed this year, sources from the environmental protection department said.

Ningbo plans to shut down all the coal-fired boilers in urban area in the next three years. The sale and use of high polluting fuels will be banned in the urban areas and downtown in county-level cities. Ningbo has closed 235 coal-fired boilers and industrial furnaces since the plan was issued last year.

In 2012, the municipal government pledges to take more effective measures. According to the plan, a total of 150 coal-fired boilers will be shut down or replaced. In response, local environment departments have taken immediate actions. Zhenhai District makes a specific instruction on each boiler to be closed. Beilun District introduces a series of rules over the high pollution fuel boilers and plans to give subsidies the companies that take initiatives in the program.

Less developed villages to be renovated

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Category: Governmental News

Published: Tuesday, 10 April 2012 09:48

Recently Ningbo has launched a renovation project on a number of less developed villages, said local authorities. Some renovation works have started in several villages.

In recent years, with the advance of the new rural construction program, Ningbo rural areas has taken new look. However, some old villages in less developed areas remain unchanged. The infrastructure and public services lag behind. Some low-income rural families achieve little income growth. The collective economic organization doesn’t function well. Yang Shengjuan, director of municipal agricultural office, said: "the improvement of underdeveloped areas are crucial to narrow the gaps between urban and rural areas, between the rich and the poor and among different regions."

In order to speed up the development of the underdeveloped area, the municipal government has listed the renovation project as one of their major tasks this year. According to their plan, 70 villages will face renovation and 60 of them will have completed their renovation project by the end of 2012.

To ease the financial burden of local farmers, the municipal government decided to grant a special fund to the project. Governments at county level are required to give supportive funds at the same time. The total financial aid this year is estimated as 180 million yuan($28,616,852).

Ningbo healthcare reform makes progress, says Vice Health Minister

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Category: Governmental News

Published: Monday, 02 April 2012 13:07

Liu Qian, Vice Minister of Health, affirmed the achievements Ningbo has made in healthcare reform during an inspection tour in Ningbo last Friday.

The rapid economic and social development in recent years boosted the development of medical and health services in Ningbo. The municipal government has attached great importance to the healthcare reform. In order to meet the growing needs of the urban and rural residents, the government issued a series of policies and measures to promote primary health care system, the new rural cooperative medical system and maternal and child health care.

Liu Qian said that the healthcare reform aims to protect the interests of patients and improve the efficiency of the public medical institutions. The reform will motivate the working staff in hospitals while making best use of the existing medical resources. On the surface, the reform is to address the current problems such as shortage of hospitals and high medical costs. In essence, it aims to enhance the level of medical care. To promote the reform, governments at all levels have to increase their financial input and form a new health management and operation mechanism. Therefore, the healthcare reform should be started from the grassroots level. To effectively bring down health care cost, a drug pricing system and a primary health care compensation mechanism need be established.

He added that there is still a long way to go in reforming healthcare system in China