BEIJING, Sept. 7 -- China's proposal of establishing an international mangrove center has been approved by the Standing Committee of the Ramsar Convention, the country's forestry ministry said Thursday.

The international mangrove center will be set up in southern China's Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA).

China pledged to intensify international cooperation on wetland protection and establish the international mangrove center last year when attending the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

For the next step, the center will put in place an international cooperation mechanism to intensify global efforts in mangrove conservation, restoration, and utilization, the NFGA said.

China has stepped up mangrove conservation in recent years. It has included provisions related to mangroves in the law on wetland protection and implemented a 5-year action plan to conserve and restore mangroves.

Data showed that the area of mangroves in China increased by more than 7,200 hectares compared with the beginning of this century.

The Ramsar Convention, named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed in 1971, is an intergovernmental agreement dedicated to the conservation and rational use of wetland ecosystems.