FRENCH and Chinese officials investigated ways to make Shenzhen and the French province of Vienne a cleaner place as part of the Vienne culture week last week.

Their talks covered a wide range of topics but focused on a reasonable use of limited water and green land resources. Vienne has excelled in ensuring water quality for the province. The water for both household and industry uses has been processed and potable, with residents even being able to drink toilet washroom water. However they are still trying to reduce everyday water consumption.

Jean Pierre Jarry, who has been in the environmental protection industry for more than 30 years, had an idea that could benefit both cities. "A system that separates drinking water from water used for toilet and gardening could be more effective at saving water, but the system is very complicated to design," said Jarry.

Chen Weiyuan, vice director general of the Shenzhen Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said Shenzhen had also got its own way to guarantee drinking water quality, so far 30 percent of the land resources has been designated as the drinking water resources reserve.

Shenzhen has taken a lead in the nation's attempt to create more green land by achieving a green coverage rate of 48.2 percent. Every Shenzhener can enjoy a total of 15 square meters of public green land.

"We adopt a network management of green land. The city is divided into different areas according to its uses such as commercial, residential and industrial. Then we map out the different planning to allocate the green resources more effectively," said Chen.

The urban green planning in Shenzhen deeply impressed French guests, who said the government had successfully woven parks and green land into the city despite a great number of skyscrapers and high buildings.

Jarry, a French forest expert, elaborated on an interesting topic ¡ª private forests. Two-thirds of the forests in France are owned by individuals, but they cannot freely cut them. The private forests are under administration of the forest experts and a private forest management committee. Anyone wanting to build a house in a forest has to purchase the same amount of land elsewhere to plant trees.

The increasing population posed a threat to local land resources as more people flood to Shenzhen and settle down. Something similar happened in Paris years ago. The French guests suggested Shenzhen draw from their advocated life model of "work in the city and live in the countryside" to relieve the urban living pressure.

Editor: Donald