China's bird conservation efforts have yielded remarkable results, with populations of many endangered bird species steadily increasing, according to data released Thursday by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
The latest figures showed that 19 nationally protected bird species, including the crested ibis, black-headed gull, and brown-eared pheasant, have maintained stable or growing populations. By 2025, China's Baer's pochard population reached 2,555, doubling from about 1,000 in 2012. The blue-crowned laughingthrush increased from 550 in 2024 to roughly 660, while the green peafowl population grew to over 1,000.
Public enthusiasm for bird protection has been growing. At Laoshan Mountain in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, lush early-summer vegetation has drawn nearly 50 migratory bird species back to nest and raise their young on schedule. Birdwatchers carrying telephoto lenses are often seen wandering through the woods in search of rare sightings.
"The environment here is well-suited for birds, and conservation efforts are being carried out thoroughly. That's why the birds like to come, and we bird photographers like them too and welcome them," said one local birdwatcher.
In January this year, a nationwide synchronized survey of wintering waterbirds recorded 167 species across 9 orders and 19 families, with a total of 6.324 million individual birds. This marks a 158.9 percent increase from the 2.443 million recorded in 2016, and is the highest number ever recorded in China's wintering waterbird monitoring efforts.
China's bird protection efforts boost rare species populations:2025 data
A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Thursday called on Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities to remove restrictions on travel by mainland residents to Taiwan at an early date.
At a press briefing in Beijing, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, slammed the DPP's political manipulation in response to the Taiwan authorities' decision to reject applications from tourism operators in Shanghai Municipality and Fujian Province to conduct preparatory visits to Taiwan. The decision has drawn criticism from tourism operators and industry groups on the island.
"Promoting the resumption of travel by residents of Shanghai and Fujian to Taiwan is a positive step that aligns with mainstream public opinion in Taiwan and will help promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations. Preparatory visits are a routine industry practice to coordinate accommodation, tourist sites and reception arrangements, which are purely private, business-related exchange. However, the DPP authorities unilaterally demanded prior consultations through tourism bodies as a prerequisite and rejected the applications for preparatory visits to the island," Zhu said.
"Such a move is typical political manipulation and the creation of artificial barriers. The industry's call for less political manipulation and prioritizing tourism fully reflects the industry's dissatisfaction and opposition to the DPP authorities' deliberate politicization of cross-strait tourism and their disregard for the survival difficulties of tourism operators on the island and the livelihood demands of ordinary people," she said.
"We have upheld the vision that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family, promoted the resumption of travel by mainland residents to Taiwan and continued to extend goodwill. Since 2024, travel by residents of Fujian and Shanghai to Kinmen and Matsu has been restored," said the spokeswoman.
"If the DPP authorities truly care about the livelihoods of those in the tourism sector, they should lift the restrictions on mainland residents traveling to Taiwan at an early date," Zhu said.
Chinese mainland urges DPP authorities to lift travel restrictions on mainland residents
