BEIJING — China has maintained its efforts to promote greening as the 42nd National Tree Planting Day nears, despite the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, according to China's forestry and grassland authority.

As of March 10, China had planted 13.11 million mu (about 874,000 hectares) of trees across the country in 2020, fulfilling 12.9 percent of the annual afforestation target, according to data from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The country planned to increase the afforested areas by 101 million mu and grassland areas by 51.94 million mu by the end of this year, the administration said.

While keeping a close eye on epidemic containment, related departments should adopt region-specific approaches to promote forestation, strengthen supervision over grazing on grasslands and sustain ecological protection and restoration of grasslands, said Zhang Jianlong, head of the administration.

Zhang also called for innovations in the tree-planting campaign, such as maximizing the use of the internet, to help more citizens fulfill their obligations to plant trees.

Under a long-term afforestation plan, China expects to increase its forest coverage rate to 23.04 percent by 2020, and to 26 percent by 2035, as part of the plan to build a Beautiful China.