China has made progress in environmental conservation and restoration, said the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Over the years, the country has implemented an integrated approach to protect and restore mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and deserts, with a total area of 5.3 million hectares treated.

During the first National Forum on Natural Resources and Ecological Civilization held in Anji county, Zhejiang province on Dec 4, Wang Guanghua, minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources, highlighted the importance of national land use planning.

China aims to develop a new pattern of balanced and high-quality land development and protection. This includes the identifying of 124.3 million hectares of arable land and outlining conservation red lines covering 3.19 million square kilometers of land and sea.

The ministry said China has planted trees on 72 million hectares of land with the forest coverage rate increasing to 24.02 percent from 12 percent since the 1980s. Both desertification and sandy land have been reduced. China's efforts in ecological restoration contribute to one-fourth of the world's newly added green areas.