Liu Congqiang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and delegate of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC)

"The study of karsts in southwest China’s Guizhou province is important to ecological restoration and the well-being of local people," said the geochemist Liu Congqiang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and delegate of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), on Nov 7 in Beijing.

Born in Guizhou province and the first academician from the CAS to work in Guizhou, Liu has concentrated on the study of karst rocky desertification and eco-restoration for many years.

In 2006, his research project concentrating on karst rocky desertification was enlisted into the “973 Program”, also known as the National Basic Research Program which was initiated in 1997 by the Chinese government to develop basic research, innovations and technologies aligned with national priorities in economic development and social development.

The project has become a successful model of cooperation between units at the Chinese Academy of Science and local scientific research colleges.

According to Liu’s research, both surface and underground water and soil erosion exist in the karst area of Guizhou province. Stone landification is the main source of karst rocky desertification. Liu’s research also calculated the massive quantity of water and soil loss that can be acceptable in the southwest karst region. He proposed a vertical zonation governance model in solving karst rocky desertification and put forward suggestions in solving farmland water shortages caused by karst rock desertification.