Diplomats, international friends plant trees in Beijing to promote green development

The 2023 "Beijing International Friendship Forest" Tree Planting Event took place on April 15 at the Olympic Forest Park in Changping district, Beijing, attracting nearly 200 foreign diplomatic envoys, foreign experts and international students from around 50 countries across five continents.

Under the theme of "Together for a Greener Development," the event was a concrete action of Beijing in response to the UN's sustainable development goals, promoting green development, as well as fostering friendly people-to-people exchanges.

Zhang Qian, Executive Vice President of the Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (BPAFFC), addressed the opening ceremony, noting that Beijing's forest coverage rate has reached 44.8 percent, and its annual carbon sink capacity of forest and green land ecosystem has amounted to 8.8 million tons.

The 2023 "Beijing International Friendship Forest" Tree Planting Event takes place on April 15 at the Olympic Forest Park in Changping district, Beijing. (Photo provided by Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries)

Choo AnYin, Ambassador of Guyana to China, delivered a speech on behalf of the foreign participants, saying that the event will help not only make Beijing greener and more beautiful but also contribute to the efforts against global warming and deforestation.

The ambassador was deeply impressed by Beijing's efforts in green development over the years. She mentioned that before the 1990s when she was studying in Beijing, there was a lot of pollution and sandstorms, and when she came to Beijing in 2008, she saw a great improvement in the environment with more trees and flowers. She was honored to act as part of the team to plant trees and saw a more beautiful and greener landscape in Beijing.

Attendees plant trees at the Olympic Forest Park in Changping district, Beijing, on April 15. (Photo provided by Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries)

Mohhammed El Bakkari, Minister of Moroccan Embassy, applauded the event, saying that afforestation is significant as it not only protects the environment but also saves our earth. Embalo Mama Samba, a student from Guinea, said that planting trees is very important to make the air cleaner and improve people's health. "The more green, the better for our lives," he stressed.

The tree planting event has been held eight times since 2015, with a total of over 5,800 trees planted. Many foreigners in Beijing have taken part in the event, which not only deepens foreign friends' affection for Beijing, but also contributes to the building of a beautiful and green city.

(Gong Weiwei, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)