Item from March 13, 1989, in China Daily: With spades and saplings, hundreds of thousands of people nationwide took part in the 11th national tree-planting campaign. ...

Although China's population makes up 20 percent of the world's total, its timber reserve makes up only 3 percent of the global forestry.

During the past four decades, people from all walks of life have participated in tree-planting events since China set March 12 as the National Tree-Planting Day in 1979.

The voluntary campaign was launched to fight against desertification and protect the environment.

The government has also adopted other initiatives such as the Three-North Shelterbelt Program. The name refers to the three northern regions: the North, the Northeast and the Northwest.

That program was launched in 1978. It is aimed at planting trees across more than 4 million square kilometers by 2050.

Thanks to these green projects, China now has the biggest man-made forests in the world.

The programs have helped increase the country's tree coverage from 12 percent in the 1970s to 22 percent now.

The 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) has set a forestry coverage target of 23 percent, or 223 million hectares, according to the State Forestry Administration.

In 2013, the administration announced that by 2020 China will spend nearly 213 billion yuan ($31 billion) to fund afforestation projects.