Forestry authorities are planning to establish another 17 nature reserves in China's largest forest zone over the next 16 years, bringing the total number to 29.

Twelve reserves have already been created in the Da Hinggan Ling Mountains, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, over the past seven years.

They include one state-level reserve, named Hanma, for the protection of virgin coniferous forests, along with other seven reserves at provincial or ministry level to protect forestry and wetland eco-systems and wild animal resources, as well as four at lower levels.

The local forestry department expects the reserves to cover 2.38 million hectares by 2020.

Covering 400,000 square kilometers, the Da Hinggan Ling mountains extend through Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Heilongjiang Province in northeast China.

More than 400 types of animals and about 1,000 types of plants have been recorded in the zone.

The section of the Da Hinggan Ling mountains in the north of Inner Mongolia, covering 10.66 million hectares, is one of the main virgin forest zones owned by the state.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2004)