China has firmly maintained the red line for farmland protection, gradually building an integrated framework for the quantity, quality, and ecological preservation of farmland, Guan Zhiou, minister of natural resources, said on Wednesday.

By the end of 2024, China's total farmland area reached nearly 1.94 billion mu (about 129.33 million hectares), up 28 million mu (about 1.87 million hectares) since 2020, Guan announced at a press conference.

China has been increasing efforts to keep the total farmland area above the red line of 1.8 billion mu (120 million hectares).

Guan said, China's national forest coverage rate has reached 25.09 percent, an increase of about 2 percentage points since 2020, making the country the world's fastest and largest contributor to afforestation.

Meanwhile, the gross ocean product (GOP) reached 10.5 trillion yuan (about $1.5 trillion), an increase of 2.7 trillion yuan (about $379.1 billion) compared to 2020.

In 2024, China's GOP exceeded 10 trillion yuan (roughly $1.4 trillion) for the first time, marking a significant milestone for its maritime economy.

(Cover: Farmers prepare the land for summer planting in Zhoutou Village, Jiangxi Province, east China. /VCG)