Hyundai Motor to start 'Green Project' in China

Hyundai Motor will promote an ambitious global environment project in China of turning a desert into grassland.

The Korean top carmaker announced Wednesday that it will begin the five-year joint project with the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM) in a 50 square kilometer district in Chakanor, China's Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region.

Hyundai Motor and the KFEM had a signing ceremony for the project with officials from Korea and China present on last week.

The 1,000-meters high mountainous district, located in the Kunshantag desert about 660 kilometers north of Beijing, is one of the main origins of the daunting "yellow dust," a strong dust storm blowing from China every spring.

The project, named "Hyundai Green Zone," is the first environmental one as part of the automaker's social contribution program, the company said.

"Expansion of deserts in China is not only destroying the local ecosystem but also affecting the whole Far East," Seol Young-heung, Hyundai Motor vice president, said at the signing ceremony.

"As the issue of environmental movements should be addressed in the global point of view, we decided to embark on this project with a sense of responsibility as a global company.

"We expect this will contribute to the prevention of further desertification in the region and set up an exemplary case of a combined project by companies, non-governmental organizations and governments," Seol said.