XINING, March 12 -- Northwest China's Qinghai Province saw significant growth in land greening in 2023, according to the provincial forestry and grassland bureau.

Qinghai, known as China's "water tower," saw the greening of nearly 4.55 million mu (about 303,147 hectares) of land during 2023.

The greening work included nearly 2.13 million mu of afforestation, around 2.42 million mu of grassland restoration and management, and the planting of more than 18 million trees, said Du Pinggui, director of the Qinghai provincial forestry and grassland bureau.

In 2024, Qinghai aims to achieve more than 5.5 million mu of land greening and ecological restoration.

Qinghai administers part of the Sanjiangyuan area, which contains the headwaters of China's three major rivers, namely, the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers. The greening of Qinghai is related to water conservation in the province, the combat against desertification in western China, and bolstering the country's national carbon sink capacity.