China has called for the public to fully participate in environmental protection activities at the opening of a tree-planting event.

Pan Yue, vice-director of the State Environmental Protection Administration, made the remark at the debut event that encourages planting trees on Saturday. The event, dubbed "Green China," includes tree-planting activities in 8 major Chinese cities.

During the National People's Congress (NPC) and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) sessions held in March, some advisors submitted a proposal to establish a national environmental protection day and relevant laws to encourage the general public to become involved in environmental protection activities.

The event that took place in Beijing on Saturday saw representatives from art and literary circles, academia and non-governmental organizations planting 2008 trees to support the proposal.

Pan Yue said citizens should fully exert their rights to learn, participate, and express themselves, to fully get involved in all kinds of public environmental protection activities. “Just occasionally planting some trees and grass is far from enough," he said. "The general public should play a key role in protecting Nature."

Pan also said that China will release its first regulation on transparency of information about the environment during the first half of this year.

(CRI April 1, 2007)