Govt's afforestation efforts paying off, report shows

China has witnessed remarkable growth of green coverage due to the implementation of afforestation projects, with more than seven million hectares' trees being planted last year, a report said.

In 2019, 7.06 million hectares of trees were planted and 3.14 million hectares of degraded grassland were treated, according to a report released by the National Afforestation Committee on Thursday, the 42nd National Tree Planting Day.

Forest coverage rate in China has increased to 22.96 percent by the end of last year. Now, the country holds 220 million hectares of forests.

Thanks to the country's afforestation efforts, the report showed that 803,000 hectares of farmland had been turned into forest or grassland last year and a total of 2.26 million hectares of sandy land had been all under protection.

As part of the plan to build a "Beautiful China", the country has vowed to increase its forest coverage to 26 percent by 2035.

According to the report, China now has 194 forest cities, with an average green coverage of 41.11 percent. And 7,586 villages have been granted the title of "national forest villages" to date.

Thanks to the greening projects, the report showed that the country's forest tourism recorded 1.8 billion visits last year, an increase of 12.5 percent year-on-year, creating a comprehensive economic value of about 1.75 trillion yuan.