Beijing to add forests, greenbelts and wetlands

BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Beijing plans to add 1 million mu (66,700 hectares) of forests, greenbelts and wetlands by 2022.

The five-year plan, aimed at raising the city's forest coverage to more than 45 percent, was announced on Wednesday at the first session of the 15th Beijing Municipal People's Congress.

A total of 230,000 mu of trees will be planted this year, with government funds of 10.6 billion yuan (1.65 billion U.S. dollars).

A previous afforestation campaign from 2012 to 2015, which saw more than 54 million trees planted, brought the city's forest coverage rate to 41 percent from 37.6 percent.