BEIJING, Sept. 21 -- China announced a plan on Thursday to set up around five national botanical gardens by 2025 amid the country's effort to build a national botanical garden system for better protection of plant-diversity.

By 2025, the proposed gardens will place more than 70 percent of the country's key state-protected wild plants and more than 55 percent of rare and endangered wild plants under ex-situ conservation, according to the layout plan of a national botanical garden system released by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

Under the plan, the country will aim to bring the number of national botanical gardens to around 10 by 2035. They are expected to provide ex-situ conservation for more than 80 percent of the country's key state-protected wild plants and more than 70 percent of rare and endangered wild plants, basically forming a national botanical garden system.

The country now has two national botanical gardens, with one situated in Beijing and the other in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province.

China is one of the countries with the greatest plant diversity, providing habitats for over 38,000 types of higher plants. It currently has nearly 200 botanical gardens, where 60 percent of the country's native plant types are under ex-situ conservation, according to the administration.