China makes strides in protecting biodiversity

BEIJING, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- China has reported progress in biodiversity as a result of enhanced legislation and policy protection.

A total of 90 percent of the country's terrestrial ecosystem types and 74 percent of key state-protected wild flora and fauna species have been placed under effective protection measures, and the wild populations of over 300 rare and endangered flora and fauna species have been restored and increased, data from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment shows.

The at-risk status of wild giant pandas has been downgraded from endangered to vulnerable, and the endangered "smiling angel" Yangtze finless porpoise has been seen spyhopping on the Yangtze River.

Over the decade, China has enacted or revised more than 20 related laws and regulations, including the Forest Law, the Grassland Law and the Law on the Protection of Wildlife, to perfect its biodiversity protection systems.

The latest data from the Supreme People's Court shows that Chinese courts nationwide have concluded 182,000 related first-instance biodiversity protection cases since 2013.

On the policy front, China has introduced ecological red lines, which have demarcated over 30 percent of its land area as protected, covering major ecological areas, according to Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu.

The country has also established a nature reserve system with national parks at its heart. The first five national parks include giant panda habitats in the provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi, as well as the only home of the rare Hainan gibbon in southern China's tropical island province of Hainan.