By 2025, 300 forest cities will be built in China, according to a national plan for forest and urban development released at the Eco Forum Global Guiyang Annual Conference 2018 on July 6.

The ambitious goal is part of the National Forest City Development Plan (2018-25), which was announced at the forum. The plan describes the development layout, key tasks, construction content and supporting measures for forest and urban development from 2018 to 2025.

The plan also put forward six key aspects in the construction of China's forest cities, including the expansion of green spaces, improvement of ecology, improvement of forest quality, raising of ecological awareness, reinforcement of ecological services, and protection of resources.

China is one of the most rapidly urbanizing countries in the world with an urban population of over 800 million. Improving the country's urban ecological environment with the help of forests and wetlands is a necessity.

Since China first began building forest cities in 2004, 138 cities have won the title of National Forest City and made progress in the construction of urban ecology. Official data shows that over 450 billion yuan ($67.76 billion) has been invested and the annual afforestation area of each city has exceeded 200,000 mu (13,333 hectares) in the last five years.

With strong organizational leadership and international cooperation, China's forest cities are a guaranteed success.

Peng Youdong, deputy administrator of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration of China, shared his ideas on how to build a forest city at the eco forum. He suggested building street gardens and leisure greenbelts to meet the growing need for a strong urban ecological environment.

"We should foster a stronger ecological awareness through a series of ecology-themed activities," Peng said.

Hans Friederich, director-general of the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan, believes that bamboo plays an important role in urban ecological construction.

"I know that China introduced the concept of a 'sponge city' to improve the retention of soil and water -- bamboo roots are perfect for protecting ssoil," he said. "We restore about 26,000 hectares of farmland with bamboo in Chishui, Guizhou province, which prevents 700,000 tons of sediment from entering the Yangtze River each year."

The National Forest City Development Plan (2018-25) is announced at the Eco Forum Global Guiyang Annual Conference 2018 in Guizhou's capital city of Guiyang on July 6. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Zhao Yandi contributed to this story.