The Third International Nitrogen Conference Tuesday opened in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, attracting more than 400 global experts to discuss nitrogen balance.

The five-day conference will focus on how population and economic increase influence nitrogen circulation, and how humans cope with the environmental problems it causes.

Chinese academician Zhu Zhaoliang, who is also the president of the conference, said that the increase in population and the consumption of nitrogenous fertilizers has destroyed the balance of nitrogen element in nature. This has created many environmental problems.

Zhu said currently the nitrogen-caused environmental problems caused great concerns from all countries and global experts, and the global conference has the mission to solve the problem.

Fu Bojie, expert from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), addressed the conference that the Chinese government always attaches great attention to the nitrogen circulation, and 35 of CAS's 117 institutions are working on nitrogen.

With the most population and fast economic growth, China was one of the largest consumers of nitrogenous fertilizer in the world, said an official with the State Environmental Protection Administration.

The official said currently the negative influence on the environment caused by nitrogen has been a key subject of debate in China, as the country works to establish sustainable development.

(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2004)