Beijing to complete 8,000-hectare ecological restoration in 2023

This photo taken on Nov. 1, 2022 shows people visiting the Yeya (Wild Duck) Lake national wetland park in Yanqing District of Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

BEIJING, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will complete ecological restoration of 120,000 mu (8,000 hectares) of land and afforestation of 15,000 mu in 2023, said the Beijing Municipal Forestry and Parks Bureau Thursday.

The city also plans to add another 200 hectares of urban green space, and its forest coverage rate is expected to reach 44.9 percent and its urban green coverage rate is expected to reach 49.35 percent in 2023, according to the bureau.

In 2023, Beijing will add 22 leisure parks and urban forests, and 50 pocket parks and small green areas. Ten new country parks will also be built in areas including the densely populated residential communities of Huilongguan and Tiantongyuan and the Beijing Future Science Park.

Last year, Beijing added 153,000 mu of afforestation and 200 hectares of urban green space. The city's forest coverage rate and the urban green coverage rate reached 44.8 percent and 49.3 percent, respectively. Its asset value of forest resources reached 907 billion yuan (about 134.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2022.