Poplar trees get new status under BRI

China has launched cross-border partnerships with several international nongovernmental and civic organizations to create three "green economic belts" in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Three belts will be created using poplar trees, under a plan released by the China Green Foundation at the Belt and Road International Forum on Public Cooperation for Ecological Remediation, which was held in Wuwei, Gansu province, on Thursday.

The belts are expected to start in Northwest China and connect countries in Central and West Asia, such as Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkey.