There were 103 foreign-funded mineral prospecting projects in China by 2003, said Ye Dongsong, vice minister of land and resources, at a conference on mineral exploration Wednesday.

Investment for these projects came from 35 mineral companies in Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Britain and the United States. These projects were proceeding smoothly, Ye said.

He said southwest China's Yunnan Province alone attracted more than 50 million US dollars of foreign investment into mineral resource exploration in 2003.

China encouraged foreign investment in mineral resource exploration and believed the potential is great, Ye said.

"Exploration of mineral resources in China is mainly conducted between 300 meters and 500 meters underground at present. We know little about mineral resources below 1,000 meters. In terms of mineral resources survey, many outlying western regions remain virtually virgin lands," said Shao Juenian, director of the Department of Mineral Resources and Reserves of the Ministry of Land and Resources.

In view of the high cost of imports, China is striving to mainly rely on domestic supply to meet the demand for mineral resources in its modernization drive.

Source: Xinhua