Beijing to add more forests, greenbelt

A further 15,333 hectares of forest and greenbelt will be added to Beijing by the year end, according to the city gardening and greening bureau.

The new round of greening is being implemented in the city's 16 districts, and nearly 70 percent of the work has been completed, the bureau said.

Cai Baojun, deputy head of the bureau, said 5.55 million trees and 1.99 million flowering shrubs have been planted in a total area of 10,533 hectares so far this year.

The capital's overall forest coverage has reached 43 percent, with the rate nearing 50 percent in the city proper, thanks to earlier greening campaigns.

According to the government plan, another 66,667 hectares of forest, greenbelt and wetland will be added in the next five years, pushing the city's overall forest coverage to over 45 percent. By then an estimated 87 percent of residents will live near green parks within a radius of 500 meters.