2.79 m Shaanxi residents to be relocated from mountains

XI'AN - Two projects that will relocate 2.79 million people from remote mountainous areas in Northwest China's Shaanxi province will start next year and be completed within a decade, the provincial government recently revealed.

The goal is to move 2.4 million residents from southern Shaanxi's mountainous area, where frequent geological disasters jeopardize people's lives, and 392,000 people from northern Shaanxi's mountainous, poverty-stricken Baiyu area.

"We felt very sad when more than 20 people in a remote, mountainous village in southern Shaanxi were instantly buried in a landslide caused by flooding this summer, and we must let our people live in safe and convenient environments," said Zhao Zhengyong, the province's acting governor.