China's cities can boast 1,972 new parks over the last five years, providing more leisure areas for urban residents, Deputy Minister of Construction Qiu Baoxing said in Beijing Saturday.

 

Qiu said the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005) had seen the green coverage of cities increase to 31.66 percent and the per capita green area doubling to 7.3 square meters.

 

A total of 113.7 billion yuan (US$14 billion) was spent on creating and maintaining green space in the same period, up 80 percent from the previous five years, he said.

 

Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province in central China, and 30 other cities were formally named National Garden Cities on Saturday, bringing the number to 83.

 

Weihai, a coastal city in Shandong Province, was awarded the China Habitat Award, becoming the 12th Chinese city to win the prize.

 

Yanqing, a suburban county in Beijing, and nine other county towns were named as the first National Garden Towns.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2006)