China Focus: The greening of China in 2023

BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China stepped up its greening programs last year with more trees planted and sandy land restored as part of the efforts to protect the environment and promote high-quality development.

About 3.998 million hectares of forest were planted in the country, higher than the 3.83 million hectares of afforestation seen in 2022, and 4.379 million hectares of degraded grassland were restored, according to a National Greening Commission report.

From top leaders to ordinary citizens, planting trees has been a prevalent practice for the Chinese. People are also encouraged to adopt or nurture trees, donate money, and conduct volunteer work related to afforestation. The country established National Tree Planting Day on March 12, 1979.

China's online greening platforms published more than 24,000 activities last year, which attracted nearly 440 million visits, and promoted the establishment of over 1,500 tree-planting bases.

Afforestation has made Chinese cities and villages greener and more livable. In 2023, the country built and upgraded 34,000 hectares of urban green space, increased the green coverage ratio of villages to 32.01 percent, and conducted highway greening of over 80,000 km.

Thick forests provided a substantial source of revenue. Last year, the output value of China's forestry and grassland industry reached 9.28 trillion yuan (about 1.31 trillion U.S. dollars), up 2.3 percent year on year, and more than 2.531 billion trips were recorded in ecotourism.

More efforts were also taken to conserve and improve ecosystems from wetland to deserts.

To strengthen wetland conservation, an international mangrove center in southern China's Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, has been approved by the Standing Committee of the Ramsar Convention last year. In 2023, 18 wetlands in China were put on the list of international importance, and 29 became those of national importance.

As the latest progress in combating desertification, some 1.905 million hectares of sandy and stony land were treated last year. The country approved sand control plans of 19 provincial regions and maintained five zones of desertified land sealed off for protection, making the total area of such zones to 1.805 million hectares.