The State Council has approved a national territorial spatial planning that will be implemented in Shanxi province, according to an official reply released on Sept 26.

According to the circular, by 2035, the total area of cultivated land in Shanxi will reach no less than 56.49 million mu, of which the protection area for permanent basic farmland will be no less than 47.48 million mu. Meanwhile, the circular stressed that the red line for ecological protection shall not be less than 34,000 square kilometers.

To underpin new development patterns, the circular also stressed implementing the strategies in coordinated regional development, functional zones and new urbanization, rural revitalization, and other major regional strategies.

More measures will be taken to strengthen the linkage in functions and coordination in the layout with city clusters like Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Central Plains and the Guanzhong Plain; coordinate the promotion of ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin; establish high-level demonstration zones for the transformation of the resource-based economy; and build Shanxi into a new highland of inland regions for opening-up, the circular said.

The construction of the main agricultural production areas in the Fenwei Plain and the areas of featured agricultural products in the Lyuliang Mountain and Taihang Mountain will be consolidated.

In addition, efforts for the restoration of the ecological environment from the Taihang Mountain, Lyuliang Mountain and Taiyue Mountain to the Zhongtiao Mountain will be intensified while work will be advanced to address the water loss and soil erosion on the Loess Plateau.

The circular also noted coordinating the spatial layout of traditional and new infrastructure, building a modern infrastructure network as well as an efficient and fast modern logistics system and intensifying the protection of heritage sites with important historical and cultural values and their environment.