China's forest, grass coverage rate surpasses 56 pct: report

China's forest and grass coverage rate has exceeded 56 percent thanks to its greening efforts, according to a report released on Thursday by the National Greening Commission.

The country's afforestation areas surpassed 3.56 million hectares in 2025, the report said, adding that it had also restored nearly 4.93 million hectares of degraded grassland last year.

These achievements have brought China's forest coverage rate to a remarkable 25.09 percent, with forest stock volume totaling almost 20.99 billion cubic meters.

Last year, the output value of China's forestry and grassland industry reached nearly 11 trillion yuan (about 1.6 trillion U.S. dollars), the report revealed.

Ecotourism remained popular, recording over 3 billion trips in 2025, it said.

China also celebrated its 48th National Tree Planting Day on Thursday, with tree planting and afforestation activities held across the country in recent days.

China's forest, grass coverage rate surpasses 56 pct: report

Nearly 100,000 people took to the streets in Brussels, Belgium on Thursday to protest against the government's planned austerity reforms involving the pension and unemployment systems.

The government is proposing a series of reforms, with one of the key measures set to reduce pension amounts for those who retire early, potentially by as much as 25 percent.

Another major reform would limit unemployment benefits in most cases to two years, after which recipients would be switched to significantly lower social security payments.

These proposed reforms have sparked strong opposition across the country. However, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said on Thursday that the government will continue to move forward with the reforms.

Nearly 100,000 people protest in Brussels against austerity reforms