China's Blue Bay Restoration Initiative was named a World Restoration Flagship by the United Nations (UN) on Thursday during the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia.

The initiative is jointly led by China's Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of Finance. This marks the second time a nationwide ecological restoration initiative from China has received the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration recognition, making China the first country to achieve the distinction twice.

Chosen from over 200 applications and more than 80 government-submitted nominations, the Blue Bay Restoration Initiative was recognized as one of the world's most promising, ambitious and inspiring examples of large-scale ecosystem restoration, said Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme.

The initiative aims to restore more than 150,000 hectares of coastal wetlands and over 2,000 kilometers of coastline by 2030, bringing lasting benefits to local communities, she added.