BEIJING -- A new type of protected area (PA) system has been set up in China to promote eco-environmental conservation, according to a white paper released on Thursday.

China is developing a PA system with national parks as the mainstay, supported by nature reserves and supplemented by nature parks, said the document on the country's green development in the new era issued by the State Council Information Office.

The first batch of five national parks - the Three-River-Source National Park, the Giant Panda National Park, the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, and the Wuyishan National Park, has been established.

The country is making steady progress in building national parks in environmentally important regions. As of the end of 2021, nearly 10,000 PAs of various types and levels had been established.

Scientific eco-environmental conservation red lines have also been developed to ensure national eco-environmental security. More than 30 percent of China's land area - including integrated and optimized PAs - is now under the protection of such red lines.

China's forest coverage ratio and forest stock volume registered 30 consecutive years of growth, making China the country with the highest growth in forest resources and the largest area of man-made forest.

China is also the first country to realize zero net land degradation - its desertified and sandified areas are both shrinking, and this is helping the world to reach the global goal of zero net land degradation in 2030, the white paper said.