Maurice F• Strong, former under-secretary-general of UN participated in China (Hainan) Forum on Ecological Culture on Jan. 8, 2007, where he said that the local government can still find a way to keep a sustainable development.   Chinanews, Sanya, Jan. 9 - Maurice F• Strong, former under-secretary-general of UN and a member of American Science Academy, said that China’s Hainan Province has developed well in recent years along with the rise of Chinese economic power. If properly guided, the region can be developed into the world’s crucial ecological cultural center, which can further boost local sustainable development in the coming years.

 

Mr. Strong has been a close friend of Chinese people since the 1950s. He participated in China (Hainan) Forum on Ecological Culture on Jan. 8, where he said that although Hainan is currently faced with various environmental problems brought by economic development, the local government can still find a way to keep a sustainable development.

 

Mr. Strong hoped that Hainan could learn the lesson of Costa Del Sol, a scenic spot located in Spain. He said that local officials of Costa Del Sol tolerated kinds of activities bringing disastrous consequences to the environment. “Economic development can also bring irreversible ecological disasters,” he said.

 

Hainan has built some 6,500 ecological villages since the local government aimed to build an ecological province in 2000. According to related statistics, more than 16 million tourists visited Hainan last year, including 50 thousand rich tourists from abroad.