Ecological construction prioritized during China’s Two Sessions

Source: People’s Daily Overseas New Media

With the goal to increase domestic forest coverage to 23.04 percent by 2020, Chinese political delegates gathered in Beijing for China’s Two Sessions, the nation’s top political meetings, and pooled their wisdom to achieve the target of “Beautiful China”.

China has made significant progress in ecological construction and civilization in the past four decades. Specifically, forest coverage area has increased to 2.08 million square kilometers from 1.15 million square kilometers, bringing green coverage to 21.66 percent from 12 percent.

In addition, the area of planted trees in the country has reached 78,670 square kilometers, ranking first worldwide. In terms of forest resource area and accumulation, China has maintained double-digit growth in recent years, which is faster and larger than any other country in the world during the same period, Liu Dongsheng, a deputy director of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said in an interview with People’s Daily on March 12.

Liu, also a member of National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), pointed out that the policy of returning farmland to forests benefits farmers. At present, forest conservation and other emerging industries account for one-third of local incomes, and more supportive policies will be introduced to further increase their earnings.

To fulfill the target of “Beautiful China”, the country plans to resolve existing problems in nature reserves and strengthen their management via more comprehensive institutional and legal construction, according to Liu.

Efforts at the community level are also necessary for the country to realize its target. Energy saving and low-carbon transportation should be popularized among citizens to stimulate green development, said CPPCC member Zhu Xiao, also vice president of Nanjing Normal University.