BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- China has made significant strides in green development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), with increased forest coverage, improved biodiversity, and closer harmony between humans and nature.

According to a press conference held on Wednesday, China completed 549 million mu (about 36.6 million hectares) of land greening in the period, including 185 million mu of afforestation.

With its forest coverage rate rising to 25.09 percent, up nearly two percentage points from 2020, China contributed roughly one-quarter of the world's newly added greenery. China's forest stock volume has reached 20.99 billion cubic meters, hitting the 2030 target ahead of schedule.

China boasts the fastest and largest growth in green coverage worldwide, Guan Zhi'ou, minister of natural resources, told the press conference.

Efforts to restore key ecosystems have also yielded results. China has rehabilitated more than 2.4 million mu of abandoned mines, restored 820 kilometers of coastline, and repaired 760,000 mu of coastal wetlands.

Guan emphasized that the area of mangroves has expanded to 465,000 mu, making China one of the few countries in the world to record a net increase in mangrove coverage.

Biodiversity protection has also advanced through the establishment of the first five national parks, which consolidate over 120 existing protected areas and encompass nearly 30 percent of the country's key terrestrial species.

Wild giant pandas now enjoy a larger and more comfortable habitat, and wild populations of tigers and leopards are growing, said Liu Guohong, head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (National Park Administration).

Liu noted that Hainan gibbons in the National Park of Hainan Tropical Rainforest, once critically endangered, are now the only gibbon population in the world that continues to increase in number. Meanwhile, Wuyishan National Park has emerged as the most complete mid-subtropical forest gene bank at its latitude.

Between 2021 and 2025, China has also deepened global cooperation in green development. It signed the international agreement on marine biodiversity, hosted the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and participated in the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).

The country has championed major global science projects, including the Deep-time Digital Earth, and jointly built more than 30 international cooperation platforms, such as the International Mangrove Center.

These efforts have generated both environmental and economic benefits, officials said.

The establishment of the country's first five national parks has created nearly 50,000 local jobs. In Wuyishan National Park, eco-friendly tea plantations have contributed to a 15 billion yuan (about 2.11 billion U.S. dollars) increase in the value of the tea industry. In Anji, east China's Zhejiang Province, the bamboo industry achieved a total output of 19.2 billion yuan, increasing incomes for nearly 40,000 local bamboo farmers.

There has been a win-win outcome for ecological conservation and people's livelihoods, Liu said.

In 2024, China's forestry and grassland industries generated over 10 trillion yuan in output, supporting employment and income growth for more than 60 million people, official data showed.

The marine economy, contributing 7.8 percent of GDP, also surpassed 10 trillion yuan in output last year, representing a 34 percent increase from the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), and serving as a significant driver of economic growth.