Beijing completes 70% of forestation target

Beijing has already completed 70 percent of the forestation plan of this year, with additional target of 15,333 hectares, planned to be finished by the end of December, the Beijing Gardening and Greening Bureau announced on Wednesday.

To achieve the target, the city has planted more than 5 million trees and about 2 million flowers, said the bureau.

To improve the city's environment, the government has been working on moving out the wholesale markets to save space for more city parks and innovative industries in recent years.

Of the 15,333 hectares of afforested area, 6,867 hectares of land were in the hands of the wholesale markets and other lower-end industries.

According to the plan, the city wants to add about 66,700 hectares of forest and wetland in five years to increase its forest coverage rate to 45 percent.