China plans to green its more than 50,000 cities and towns, the embankments of its rivers, coastlines, and areas along its major railway and roads, and to restore vegetation in leading forest areas.

The plan was initiated by Prof. Jiang Zehui, vice-chairperson of the Human Resources and Environment Subcommittee of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a national advisory body, in a bid to build a forest and ecological network covering the country.

According to the initiative endorsed by the Chinese government, forests and woods will constitute a main part of the network while the rest will be covered with shrubs and grass.

The plan together with six major afforestation projects will help China double its forest coverage to 28.3 percent by 2050, said Prof. Jiang, who is also president of the Chinese Academy of Forestry.

The State Forestry Administration, which is in charge of China's ecological conservation and construction, has started to improve its strategy to green the country's 50,000-plus cities and towns.

Compared with current strategy of merely planting trees and grass to green the urban areas, the administration will try to shift its focus to creating "forest cities" with a diversified landscape of trees and grass thereby improving the ecological system and bio-diversity.

China began large-scale biological conservation and construction projects in the late 1970s. The first included planting a 4,480 km shelterbelt in northern China, and later in areas along the Yangtze and Yellow rivers and the 18,000 km coastline.

(Xinhua News Agency September 24, 2002)