China Issues White Paper On Biodiversity Conservation

On Friday, China's State Council Information Office (SCIO) issued the "White Paper" to introduce the country's actions on biodiversity conservation and share its achievements in the sector.

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Through the approval of the "Biodiversity Conservation in China" policy paper, this Asian nation ratified its commitment to sustainable development before the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) to be held in Glasgow in November.

The White Paper "seeks to consolidate the policy and philosophy of biodiversity conservation in China, a country that allocates huge resources and promotes creative measures and innovation to form a new pattern of biodiversity conservation," said Chen Wenjun, the director of the SCIO Press Bureau.

"It also raises multilateralism, global cooperation, and the participation of science in the defense of biological diversity as priorities," he added.

Among the most important achievements of Chinese environmental policy are the establishment of 10,000 protected areas, which occupy about 18 percent of the country's surface, conserve 90 percent of terrestrial ecosystems, and protect 71 percent of the endangered species of wild fauna and flora.

The White Paper also highlights the achievements made in preserving the giant pandas, an endangered species that is emblematic of China. In the last four decades, however, its population increased from 1,114 to 1,864 individuals in the wild.

Besides carrying out nationwide biodiversity surveys, China is putting in place sound biodiversity monitoring and observation networks. It has increased financial input and effort in technology research and development to improve the capacity for biodiversity conservation and governance.