China has become the global leader in the fastest and largest increase in green coverage, with over 6.67 million hectares of land undergoing green transition in 2024, according to the latest data from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
In 2024, China planted 4.45 million hectares of trees and improved 3.22 million hectares of grassland.
Currently, the country's forest coverage exceeds 25 percent, with forest stock exceeding 20 billion cubic meters, while the overall vegetation coverage of grasslands remains above 50 percent. It also ranks first in the world for the area of planted forests, according to official data.
"Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration has been working to expand green coverage on a large scale. Over the years, we have created a total of 7.73 million hectares of forestland, making China the global leader in the fastest and largest increase in green coverage," said Zhang Liming, an official with the administration.
By 2024, a total of 212 cities across China had been developed into National Forest Cities. The green coverage rate in urban built-up areas reached 43.32 percent, while in rural areas, it reached 32.01 percent.
China's remarkable progress in green transition has also driven the growth of its forestry industry. In 2024, the total output value of the national forestry sector reached 10.17 trillion yuan (about 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars), up 9.6 percent year on year.
In addition, the annual production of forest food products exceeded 200 million tons, making it the third-largest agricultural product in China, after grains and vegetables.
China leads world in fastest, largest increase in green coverage
Highlighting the "Future Energy" as a key direction for China's strategic emerging industries, the country's nuclear energy development, guided by its three-step strategy, has seen major strides in the past year, said a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
In a recent press briefing, Xin Feng, also deputy general manager of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), updated the media on the progresses China has achieved under the strategy.
"China's three-step strategy for nuclear energy development -- from the thermal reactor to the fast reactor and the fusion reactor -- was formulated in 1983 as a medium- and long-term plan. For the thermal reactor, over the past year, our 2.0 version of the Hualong One technology has been approved. This is a unified and fully self-owned intellectual property based third-generation nuclear power technology solution. And the Linglong One small modular reactor also successfully completed its cold-state functional test last year and is expected to be put into commercial operation this year," he said.
For the second and third steps, Chinese researchers and engineers have achieved milestones in the past year with the government support, Xin noted.
"Then for the fast reactor, last year, a closed-cycle system for an integral fast reactor successfully achieved preliminary standard design. We will continue to solve its engineering technology challenges. As for the fusion reactor, in 2025, with national support, we established the China Fusion Energy Company in Shanghai. And our Huanliu-3, a platform for conducting research and development of fusion technology, made a big stride, with an iron temperature in it achieving 117 million Celsius and an electron temperature reaching 160 million Celsius. We will continue to adhere to the development strategy and focus on technological research and engineering technology development," Xin said.
The fourth session of the 14th NPC and the fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC kicked off in Beijing on March 5 and March 4, respectively.
The "two sessions" -- which refer to the annual meetings of China's supreme organ of state power, the National People's Congress (NPC), and its top political advisory body, the National Committee of the CPPCC -- are a key event on the country's political calendar and offer a window into the country's development direction.
China's nuclear energy development makes great strides with three-step strategy: CPPCC member
