This Day, That Year

Editor’s Note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up policy.

During the past four decades, people from all walks of life have participated in tree-planting events since China set March 12 as National Tree-Planting Day in 1979.

The voluntary campaign was launched to fight desertification and protect the environment.

The government has also adopted other initiatives such as the Three-North Shelterbelt Program.

The name refers to the three northern regions of the country: the North, the Northeast and the Northwest. The program was launched in 1978. It is aimed at planting trees across more than 4 million square kilometers by 2050.

Thanks to these green projects, China now has the biggest man-made forests in the world.

The programs have helped increase the country’s tree coverage from 12 percent in the 1970s to 22 percent now. The rate will be 26 percent by 2035.

An area of 33.8 million hectares of forest has been grown nationwide in the past five years, increasing the country’s forested area to 208 million hectares.

During the period, the central government has invested more than 538 billion yuan ($85 billion) in forests, an increase of 36 percent over the previous period, according to data from the State Forestry Administration.

China will launch a massive land greening campaign to raise the forest coverage to 23 percent by 2020, the administration said. Two large forest protection projects, each covering an area of at least 66,600 hectares, will be promoted this year.