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As the country contributing the largest and fastest increase in global greening, China accounts for one-quarter of the world's newly added green areas, according to statistics released by China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) on Thursday, the National Tree Planting Day.

China's latest forest "profile" shows that the country's forest area has reached 3.614 billion mu (about 2.41 million square kilometers), roughly the area of Algeria, with the forest coverage rate rising to 25.09 percent, the administration said at a press conference on Thursday. 

Forest stock volume has surpassed 20.99 billion cubic meters, while the country is home to around 142.6 billion trees nationwide - roughly 100 trees per capita, statistics showed.

On the same day, the National Greening Commission issued a report saying that China's forest and grass coverage rate has exceeded 56 percent thanks to its greening efforts.

China's afforestation areas surpassed 3.56 million hectares in 2025, the report said, adding that the country had also restored nearly 4.93 million hectares of degraded grassland last year. Meanwhile, China's forest coverage rate has reached 25.09 percent, its total forest stock stands at nearly 20.99 billion cubic meters, and the total output value of the forestry and grassland industry has approached 11 trillion yuan, per the statement the NFGA sent to the Global Times.

In recent years, China's efforts to make the country greener and cleaner have garnered global attention and applause. In an article published by Forbes last year, it admitted that "from a macro perspective, China's reforestation program has delivered some real gains. Forest cover across the country has expanded significantly in recent years. Remote sensing data from NASA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences also confirms widespread greening across key northern zones."

On Thursday, Chinese lawmakers voted to adopt the Ecological and Environmental Code at the closing meeting of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress, per Xinhua.

According to Huang Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment, the code is of great and far-reaching significance for legally protecting public health and ecological and environmental rights and interests, accelerating the modernization of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature, and advancing joint efforts to build a clean and beautiful world, the China Youth Daily reported.

Speaking during a question-and-answer session at the Minister's Corridor group interview on Thursday, Huang said the national average concentration of PM2.5 in 2025 dropped to 28 micrograms per cubic meter, and the proportion of days with good or excellent air quality reached 89.3 percent, hitting the best level since monitoring began.

Wei Yuansong, director of the laboratory of water pollution control technology, research center for eco-environmental sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that with this new code covering all aspects of China's ecological civilization development, the country will have clearer laws and regulations to guide its all-round green development, and to better support full green transition and the building of a Beautiful China as outlined in the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030).