« Geographically, China's ecological crises are particularly severe in its wester region where rural poverty, ecological fragility and economic underdevelopment are probably interwoven. In contrast to the sucessful « taking-off » of either rural industrialisation or commercialised agriculture in economically advanced regions of resource-rich zones, these poor areas suffer from « double pressures » from both unfavourable geographic environments and increasing market competition. Great variation in ressources endowment and infrastructure, in addition to various policy biases, have resulted in a widening regional ecobomic gap and icome inequality [...]. Associated with ecological degradation, the marginalisation process has threatened social stability and challenged the capacity of the government to maintain regional harmony [...]. Linked with ecological crises and economic marginalisation, rural poverty is still a serious issue against China's rural development. Despite great efforts and remarkable achievements in reduction of absolute poverty, according to recent reports [...], China has a long way to go to eliminate rural poverty, because most of the remaining poor are concentrated in ressource-poor and geographically remote areas that are not easily accessed by outsiders. » (source : introduction p. [1]-2).