China revises law to better protect forests

BEIJING - Chinese lawmakers Saturday voted to adopt a revision to the forest law in a bid to better protect the country's forests and facilitate green development.

The revision was adopted at the end of a six-day bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

The revised forest law categorizes forests into public benefit forests and commercial forests, and adopts differentiated management measures.

The public benefit forests will be rigorously protected, and the commercial forests will be managed by authorized operators in accordance with the law. The authorized operators are also tasked with conserving forest resources, according to the law.

Governments at and above the county level should incorporate the protection of forest resources and the development of forestry into their economic and social development plans, according to the law.

China's National Tree Planting Day has also been enshrined in the law to raise people's awareness of forest protection.

The revised forest law will take effect on July 1, 2020.