China approves no-development zones in 15 provinces and regions

China has approved plans by 15 provinces and regions to draw up “red lines” that will put large swathes of its territory off-limits to economic development, the environment ministry said on Monday.

The “ecological protection red line” scheme was first devised in 2011 amid fears that decades of “irrational development” had put China’s environment under heavy strain.

It is designed to ban or restrict industrial development in wetlands, forests, national parks or protected nature zones.

Last year, the government ordered all provinces and regions to implement such systems by the end of 2020. The 15 schemes already approved include Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei,