(Photo/Xinhua)

China was home to 212 million hectares of forests as of the end of 2018, and 22.08 percent of its territory is covered by plants.

From 2000 to 2018, China witnessed a 45 million hectares net increase of forested area, or 26.9 percent, thereby becoming a major contributor that maintains the global forest coverage.

According to a report on the remote sensing of global ecology recently released in Beijing by China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, the world has generally maintained its total forest coverage with a slight decrease, while China secured great performance in afforestation and forest conservation.

The Three-North Shelter Forest Program, the “grain for green” project, and the ecological protection efforts made by national forest parks are the major reasons for China’s expansion in forest coverage, the report said.