China To Step Up Tree Planting Campaign

China will plant 36,000 square kilometres of new forest a year – more than the total area of Belgium – from this year to 2025 as it bids to combat climate change and better protect natural habitats, a senior forestry official.

Tree planting has been at the heart of China’s environmental efforts for decades and is a major part of plans to bring carbon emissions down to net zero by 2060.

China aims to raise its overall forest coverage rate to 24.1% by the end of 2025 from 23.04% at the end of last year, according to its forest and grassland five-year plan published this week.

The plan warned that China’s forest and grass resources were inadequate, especially in drought-prone regions in the north and west.