The South China National Botanical Garden was inaugurated at an unveiling ceremony on Monday in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, aiming to play an important role in protecting plant diversity in the country.

It's China's second national botanical garden after the China National Botanical Garden that opened in Beijing in April.

With Beijing located in a temperate zone and Guangzhou in a subtropical zone, the gardens will complement one another. China's national botanical garden system will help protect rare plants and ensure diversity, according to a statement released by the garden in Guangzhou on Monday.

China is among the countries with the richest plant diversity, with more than 37,000 species of known higher plants, which account for about 10 percent of the global total, the statement said.

Ren Hai, director and researcher with the former South China Botanical Garden, said his garden with special South China garden styles and features will improve the level of plant conservation, scientific research, public education and horticulture in the next six years.

"Priorities will be given to protect the plants in tropical and subtropical areas and the southern Chinese region, to ensure more than 95 percent of the rare and endangered plants in the region can be put under protection in the garden," he said.

Now the garden has initiated the reintroduction of about 36 rare and endangered plants in South China, including camellias and magnolias, he added.

With a planning area of more than 319 hectares, the South China National Botanical Garden is a joint project of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Guangdong provincial government and the Guangzhou city government.

The new garden is an expansion of the former South China Botanical Garden, located in the eastern suburbs of Guangzhou.

The former garden, which was established in 1929 by Chen Huanyong, a well-known botanist, was constructed by the CAS, Guangdong provincial and Guangzhou city governments.

The garden has a conservation exhibition area of 283 hectares and is the largest subtropical botanical garden in China.

It is home to 38 special gardens, including magnolia, palm, ginger and orchid gardens, and about 17,000 plants being conserved outside of their natural habitats.

The State Council announced the approval of the establishment of the new garden at the end of May.

Pan Jiaying contributed to this story.