Xi: Green development key to building a beautiful China

The president recommended taking innovative measures to encourage people to plant more trees. "Let's take proactive steps — from planting trees to ensuring our homeland has lucid waters and lush mountains, which are our invaluable assets — and draw a new picture of our beautiful China," he said.

China has topped the global ranking in terms of the size of artificial forests, Xi said, adding that the nation's tree-planting efforts will continue.

Emphasizing that afforestation is both very meaningful and beneficial for the future generations, Xi said that China and the Chinese people should be given credit for their contributions to improving the global forest coverage rate and coping with climate change.