BEIJING, May 22 -- Natural shorelines in Beijing accounted for 69.5 percent of the metropolis' total shorelines last year as a result of its continued efforts to improve biodiversity, the municipal ecology and environment bureau said on Monday.

Natural shorelines are generally water shorelines with natural morphological characteristics and ecological functions, which are natural or natural after renovation and restoration. The natural shoreline is a key area for the interaction of water and land ecosystems, as well as an important channel for organisms.

The natural shoreline retention rate of the major rivers in Beijing, such as Yongding River, Chaobai River and Wenyu River, has been kept at over 75 percent for two consecutive years, which provides good natural conditions for local biodiversity protection, said Cao Zhiping, an official with the Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau.

In 2022, 3,560 species were recorded in the phased survey of biodiversity in Beijing, and 6,408 species were recorded from 2020 to 2022.

According to the bureau, the Ecological Index (EI) of Beijing was 71.1 last year, with a year-on-year growth of 0.4 percent, achieving steady improvement for several years in a row, which means the city boasts good ecological environmental quality. EI is a comprehensive index that reflects the urban environmental quality, function of ecological spatial patterns and biodiversity status.