Nature reserves now cover 18 percent of China

There are now 11,029 nature reserves in China, covering more than 18 percent of the country's land area, the head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration told an international forum in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Monday.

Last year, the reserves covered 14.88 percent of China's land area, according to data released by the administration at a news conference in April.

Administration head Zhang Jianlong told the opening ceremony of the second World Forum on Ecosystem Governance that the improvement was the result of a ban on commercial logging, returning cultivated land to forest or pasture, restoration of grasslands and wetlands and control of desertification.

Zhang vowed to curb land degradation and take other measures to promote better governance of the global ecosystem.

"Concerted efforts should be made to tackle climate change challenges," he said. " And last, but not least, a new ecology governance system should be established, taking rules of different countries and regions into consideration."

The forum, focusing on ecological assets and ecosystem services, is being hosted by the administration, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Hangzhou's city government.

More than 290 people from government agencies and research institutes in 33 countries and regions are taking part in the forum, which will end on Wednesday.