China’s wetland protection achievements over the past five years

10:08, February 03, 2021

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  China's outbound investment balance doubles in past five years

  BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinas balance of outbound direct investment (ODI) had exceeded 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars by the end of 2020, double the figure from the end of 2015, data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed.Aerial photo taken on Sept. 24, 2020 shows containers at Dalian port in Northeast Chinas Liaoning Province. (File Photo: Xinhua)In 2020, Chinas ODI remained relatively stable at 132.9 billion dollars with an optimized structure, the ministry said during a press conference Friday.Chinas non-financial direct investment in countries along the Belt and Road reached 17.79 billion dollars last year, up 18.3 percent, the data showed.Key industries including equipment manufacturing and information technology saw rapid increases in investment from China, MOC data showed.

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  Wetland protection, restoration improved: National Forestry and Grassland Administration

  Today (February 2) is the 25th World Wetlands Day. The theme of this year’s Wetlands Day is “wetlands and water,” aiming to highlight the close relationship between them.During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–2020) period, China has enhanced wetland ecological functions, maintained wetland biodiversity and comprehensively improved wetland protection and restoration, the National Forestry and Grass Administration said on Tuesday.The Chinese government invested 9.87 billion yuan to promote wetland protection and restoration, and more than 200,000 hectares of wetlands was added nationwide. China has more than 53 million hectares of total wetlands.(Photo: VCG)Wetlands across the country sustain about 2.7 trillion tons of fresh water, conserving 96 percent of available freshwater resources, the data showed. Rich in animal and plant life, wetlands are a veritable gene pool of species. Wetlands also play an important role in degrading pollution and combating climate change.Wetlands, forests and oceans are known as the world’s three major ecosystems. Wetlands with pleasant scenery not only provide a variety of material and cultural products for human beings, but also have important ecological functions such as maintaining water source, purifying the water quality and regulating climate. They are sometimes referred to in Chinese as the “kidney of the earth,” “source of freshwater” and “gene pool of species.”(Compiled by Liu Kechen)

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  Tibet builds more affordable houses to improve livelihood

  Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region built 230,000 affordable homes for low-income households in the past five years, amid the region's increased efforts to improve people's livelihood.Tibet has implemented a spate of measures to help solve the housing problems of urban and township residents i