Ecological resources use below average

Per capita consumption of ecological resources like water and land in China is still under the world's average, despite a rapid rise in demand, a newly published report said.

The report by the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) and the WWF said yesterday that China's ecological footprint, a measurement of biologically productive land and water area needed to meet the demands of a population, in 2003 was 1.6 hectares per person, 69th in the world.

China's footprint in 2003, the latest figure available, is lower than the world average ecological footprint of 2.2 hectares per person, the report said.