The Chinese government attaches great importance to soil environmental protection work and welcomes international cooperation, said Hou Daijun, an official with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, on Tuesday.

Hou told a seminar that China has stated clearly in the 12th Five-year Plan to strengthen efforts in soil pollution treatment because soil remediation is closely connected with human health, food safety and drinking water.

Hou said since China and the Netherlands signed the cooperation memorandum on soil environment in November 2008, a training program has been organized and more than 300 people have been trained.

The visiting Dutch Vice-minister of infrastructure and environment, Joop Atsma, also attended the seminar and applauded the Sino-Dutch bilateral cooperation on soil environment.

Atsma said the Netherlands has accumulated rich experiences in soil remediation in the past 30 years and hopes to cooperate with China in related technologies.

The seminar, themed "Urban Redevelopment and Soil Remediation", was organized by The Netherlands Embassy in Beijing and The Netherlands Soil Partnership.