China planted 4.8 million hectares of trees in six major
forestry projects in 2004, accounting for 86 percent of its
afforested area of the year, according to a bulletin publicized by
the State Forestry Bureau on Saturday.
The Chinese government invested 35.1 billion yuan (about US$4.3
billion) in the forestation projects in 2004, the bulletin
said.
A total of 25.32 million hectares of trees have been added
thanks to the nationwide projects launched in 1998, which have cost
126.4 billion yuan (about US$15.6 billion), it said.
The projects will cost more than 700 billion yuan (about US$86.3
billion) and cover over 97 percent of counties across the
country.
(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2005)