Xi plants trees in Beijing, urging nationwide afforestation efforts for beautiful China

BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday attended a voluntary tree planting activity in Beijing and called for nationwide efforts in afforestation to jointly build a beautiful China.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while attending the tree planting activity in a forest park in Beijing's Tongzhou District.

Xi and other leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people.

He said the tree planting activity aims to call on all people to take actions and join the tree planting and afforestation efforts to add a greener hue to the building of a beautiful China.

At the planting site, Xi waved to the crowd to extend greetings, and then picked up a shovel to join the activity. He planted saplings of multiple types of trees.

While planting the trees, he also asked the children at the site about their study, life and their participation in work and sports. He stressed that young children need to engage themselves in work and afforestation from childhood and develop their awareness to revere and love nature.

He also asked the students to study hard, build up their bodies and become the backbone of the country.

During talks with officials and locals on site, Xi said that this year marks the 45th anniversary of China establishing its National Tree Planting Day, and Chinese people have been dedicated to planting trees and afforestation, making remarkable achievements.

However, the scarcity of forest resources is still a prominent problem in the country, Xi said, urging hard work from generation to generation to address it.

To make China greener, efforts should be made to advance large-scale greening, expand the channels for turning the country's waters and mountains into invaluable assets with emphasis on both quality and efficiency, and strengthen the protection of forest and grassland resources with sound anti-fire work, Xi noted.

He called for more endeavors in advancing the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program to fortify the green Great Wall in northern China, urging the mobilization of strength from all circles.