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Chinese leaders join green drive

— Photo: Xinhua

Eco consciousness: Chinese President Hu Jintao helps a girl water a newly-planted tree in Beijing on Sunday.

BEIJING: Chinese President Hu Jintao and other senior leaders joined millions of people in Beijing for voluntary tree planting on Sunday morning. Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang also took part in the activity at a new park in the western outskirts of Beijing.

Mr. Hu said the Beijing Olympic Games had greatly improved the city’s environment and he hoped the achievements would be maintained and improved upon.

He also called on the public to continue to be actively involved in tree planting activities so as to make China cleaner and greener.

Leading officials from central government ministries and Beijing’s municipal departments, as well as local residents, planted trees over the weekend. That is a total of about 1.8 million people, said the Beijing Municipal Forestry Bureau. According to a decision by the National People’s Congress on voluntary tree planting issued in 1981, Chinese citizens aged from 11 to 55 should plant three to five trees every year as a way to increase China’s forest coverage. — Xinhua

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