The "Earth Day" is an annual improvement of the Earth's natural environment.  On this “Earth Day”, a senior official pointed out that our country is running short of 25 kinds of mineral resources, including 11 of them that are important to the country's economy,.
Minister of Land and Resources Xu Shaoshi told that the country will face a serious shortage of mineral resources by 2020 as it consumes an increasing amount of them to promote its industrialization, urbanization and agricultural modernization.

Over the past 15 years, consumption of mineral resources has been showed an increasing tendency. More than half of the country's petroleum, iron ore, stainless steel, refined aluminum, refined copper, chrome steel and leopoldite were imported, according to Minister Xu.

Last year, the State Council approved a ten-year plan for the country's geological exploration which highlighted the need to secure its resource offer mainly by domestic production, the minister regarded.

The authorities are trying to establish a resource management system which includes evaluation indicators of quantity, quality and ecological environment.