China has 128.61 million hectares of arable land with improved ecosystem: survey

China has 128.61 million hectares of arable land, well above the country's farmland red line of 1.8 billion mu (about 120 million hectares), according to a bulletin released by the Ministry of Natural Resources on Friday.

The ministry released a 2024 natural resources bulletin in China, detailing the country's overall natural resources.

The national land survey conducted in 2023 reveals that China has 19.61 million hectares of orchards, 283.70 million hectares of forests, 263.22 million hectares of grasslands, and 23.52 million hectares of wetlands.

The country also discovered 173 types of mineral resources by the end of 2023, the bulletin said.

Five key forest zones, including the national park for Serbian tigers and leopards and the Genhe River, have completed natural resource rights registration.

In 2024, China issued 71.53 million property ownership certificates nationwide, marking a 3.2-percent year-on-year increase.

China had 12,646 exploration rights licenses over 2.66 million square kilometers of mines, and 30,391 mining rights licenses over 351,800 square kilometers by the end of 2024.

In addition, the country has yielded significant results in the new round of mineral exploration.

Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021 -2025), China has put in 400 billion yuan (about 55.27 billion U.S. dollars) for mineral exploration, leading to major breakthroughs in copper, aluminum, iron, lithium, zirconium, and rare earth.

Minerals such as tungsten, molybdenum, and graphite have also seen substantial growth, further consolidating China's resource advantages.

China has 128.61 million hectares of arable land with improved ecosystem: survey

A spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) said on Monday that the situation in waters near the Strait of Hormuz remains volatile, urging vessels in the area to take maximum caution.

"The situation continues to be volatile. Ships should take maximum caution and not take risks without security guarantees," the spokesperson said in a statement.

According to the information released on the IMO website, as of April 19, a total of 24 attacks on ships in the affected waters had been confirmed, resulting in the deaths of 10 seafarers.

The IMO, the United Nations specialized agency responsible for maritime safety and security, as well as the prevention of marine and atmospheric pollution by ships, has called for de-escalation, dialogue, and multilateral cooperation regarding the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Monday that with the U.S. repeatedly violating ceasefire deals and posing threats to Iran’s ports and vessels, a unilateral return to normal shipping remains out of reach.

Also on Monday, the U.S. Central Command claimed in a social media post that the U.S. forces have directed 27 vessels to turn around or return to Iranian ports since its blockade on navigation through the Strait starting April 13.

However, according to a report released from Lloyd's List on Monday, at least 26 vessels involved in Iranian shipping had managed to break through the U.S. blockade.

IMO urges ships near Strait of Hormuz to be on maximum alert