Six regions in southwest China have combined their efforts in protecting the sources of major Asian rivers by improving local eco-environmental conditions.

Top officials of the six regions, namely Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, Guangxi Zhuang and Tibet autonomous regions and Chongqing Municipality, met at a recently concluded symposium held in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, pledging to take further measures to reduce desertification at fountainheads of major international rivers.

Southwest China is the cradle of many important Asian rivers, including the Yarlung Zangbo River, which runs through China, India and Bangladesh, and the Lancang River, known as Mekong River outside China.

Sichuan Province has effectively controlled soil erosion in approximately 34,000 square kilometers of land, helping to hold back about 140 million tons of mud from flowing away annually.

Yunnan Province has been monitoring the water quality of nine plateau lakes and has built 19 waste water treatment plants to deal with industrial waste from 119 key enterprises around the lakes.

The Chongqing Municipality has completed 13 of the 19 planned waste water disposal plants at the Three Gorges dam area.

The Tibet Autonomous Region has built 38 nature reserves with a total area of 407,700 square kilometers, about one third of the region's total area. The region is still the least polluted area in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2005)