BEIJING, Jan. 13 -- China has a total of 53.6 million hectares of wetlands, representing 5.58 percent of its national territory area, according to survey figures released Monday.

Zhang Yongli, deputy head of the State Forestry Administration, said at a press conference that the figures came from a nationwide survey between 2009 and 2013 to facilitate the country's wetland protection.

Total acreage of wetlands dropped 8.82 percent from a previous survey that ended in 2003, Zhang said.

Natural wetlands covered an area of 46.67 million hectares, or 87.08 percent of the total area of wetlands. Natural wetlands shrank 9.33 percent compared with the previous survey, he said.