Thanks to the progress of tree planting campaigns in recent years, the city's three green initiatives - mountain forests, plain forests and urban forests - have begun to take shape, Song Xiyou, director of Beijing Forestry Bureau said.

According to the bureau's statistics released on Wednesday, Beijing added 2,866 hectares of green land this year to its urban forest areas and its urban green belt, which surrounds the city's urban areas.

More than 75 percent of the new green land is covered by trees. The survival rate of the trees and bushes planted this spring is above 94 percent.

Beijing's urban green belt covers a territory of 93.5 km. By the end of 2007, the city's vegetation coverage will be greatly increased, with tree coverage in mountainous areas reaching 70 percent, on plains exceeding 30 percent and in urban isolation green belt reaching 60 percent, according to Song.

In the past two years, Beijing's green areas expanded greatly, with more than 5,500 hectares of new green land created - almost the total amount of green areas in the period.

For many Beijing residents, dreams of living in a green community are becoming a reality.

"We will spare no effort to add more green space to the capital, and have set a target to build more gardens in downtown areas," Song said.

Governments at all levels in the city injected more than 700 million yuan (US$84 million) to increase its green space this year, which doubles the money provided last year.

To improve the environment in rural areas around the capital, Beijing municipal government launched a tree planting project late last year, aiming to transform areas along five rivers and 10 expressways into green havens.

More than 100 million yuan (US$12 million) has been invested into the project, expected to be finished within three to four years, Song said.

(China Daily October 19, 2001)