DATE=3/17/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA - WORLD BANK (L ONLY) CQ
NUMBER=2-260275
BYLINE=STEPHANIE MANN
DATELINE=BEIJING
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  The World Bank has announced that China has 
suspended a controversial resettlement program in the 
western part of the country, pending a report by an 
inspection team.  V-O-A correspondent Stephanie Mann 
reports a senior World Bank official is visiting China 
and spoke about the project at a new conference in 
Beijing. 

TEXT:  The World Bank's new vice president for East 
Asia, Jemal-ud-din Kassum, was asked about the status 
of a plan to move 58-thousand poor Chinese farmers 
into an ethnic Tibetan area of Qinghai province. 

Last June, the World Bank approved a 40 million dollar 
loan to help build a dam for an irrigation project in 
the county where the farmers are to be resettled.  

Tibetans in exile have criticized the relocation 
program, saying it will disrupt the culture and 
livelihood of the area's indigenous people - mostly 
Tibetan and Mongolian herders.  And environmentalists 
say the project will cause ecological damage to the 
area.  

After critics called on the World Bank to halt its 
funding for the project, the Bank agreed to allow an 
independent team to inspect the area and evaluate the 
situation.  The inspection was conducted in October, 
and Mr. Kassum says the resettlement program has been 
put on hold until the group's report is finished. 

            /// KASSUM ACT ///

      Our latest understanding is the report of the 
      panel is likely to be made available in the 
      latter half of April.  That component of the
      project is on hold, pending availability of the 
      report and analysis of its conclusions.

            /// END ACT ///

China has said the relocation program is the only way 
to improve the lives of impoverished farmers who now 
live in areas only marginally suitable for farming.  
And China says critics of the project are anti-China.

Mr. Kassum, who became the World Bank vice president 
for East Asia at the beginning of this month, was in 
Beijing for meetings with top Chinese officials.  He 
is also visiting China's southwestern Guizhou 
province.

Mr. Kassum says he expects the bank to provide five 
billion to seven billion dollars in new loans to China 
over the next three years.  Of that, he says about one 
billion dollars will go toward China's newly announced 
plan to developed its impoverished western regions.  
He says the bank wants to help those provinces in an 
integrated way in a variety of sectors, including 
transportation, environment, water, and education.

            /// REST OPTIONAL ///

Over the last 20 years, the World Bank has financed 
more than 200 projects in China, totaling more than 35 
billion dollars.  Mr. Kassum says the China portfolio 
is the largest in the World Bank.  He says the bank 
has financed about 30 percent of China's highway 
system, and been heavily involved in water 
conservation and poverty alleviation programs.  
(Signed)

NEB/SMN/FC/PLM/JO




17-Mar-2000 10:12 AM EDT (17-Mar-2000 1512 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.