BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) – Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for pooling strength in building a “Beautiful China” and making the country even greener through afforestation efforts.
President Xi made the remarks while attending a voluntary tree planting activity in Beijing on Thursday.
Xi and other Party and state leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the tree planting site on the bank of a river in Fengtai District in the morning and planted trees with officials and local people.
Xi waved to the crowd at the site to extend his greetings before picking 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 studies, life, and participation in labor and sports. He stressed that a good life comes from hard work, encouraging young children to develop a love for labor and nature and to actively participate in afforestation and other public welfare activities.
During the event, Xi also talked with the officials and locals on site. He noted that China’s current forest coverage rate has surpassed 25 percent and contributes about a quarter of the world’s newly increased afforestation areas.
The ecological environment keeps improving, a fact that has been directly and tangibly felt by the people, he said.
Xi noted that in the meantime, China’s total forest and grassland resources are still insufficient, urging efforts to address prominent issues effectively and strive to improve upon the previous years.
He also emphasized the importance of forest management and improvement of the ecological quality of grasslands and called for efforts to boost the forestry and grassland-related industries.
Afforestation should deliver more benefits to the people, he stressed.
Xi added that voluntary tree planting is a nationwide initiative that must be carried on for generations.
