Green City: Big forest coming to Xiong'an

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02:25

Beijing's up-and-coming next door neighbor may look more like a forest than a city. The goal for Xiong'an New Area, which lies about 100 kilometers south of Beijing, is to have 70 percent of the city covered with trees. CGTN reporter Ning Hong visited the city where a massive forestation work is underway.

Building a new city starts from the ground up. And it's in the ground where one finds trees. A major task for city builders in Xiong'an: tripling the area's 70-million square meters worth of trees by year's end.

NING HONG XIONG'AN NEW AREA "What is a millennium city? The first impression could be one that's green. These are all newly planted trees, from where I stand, I can tell there are at least six to seven species. In order to manage these trees, people have put a QR code on each of them. It's so they can track the condition of this forest from beginning to end."

The forestation work this spring involves 39 species of trees, including arbor and shrub. Most of them are carefully chosen to adapt to the local environment.

REN ENHUI, SITE MANAGER XIONG'AN 2019 SPRING FORESTATION WORK "The goal is to ensure that the forest is always green and that flowers can be seen in each season."

First plant green, then build the city. This is the new principle that Xiangtan's builders follow. Over the past decade, China has accumulated successful experience in forestation work, be it in cities or deserts. Here in Xiong'an, such experience is being put to work.

NING HONG XIONG'AN NEW AREA "The selection of trees is shifting in China. In the past, fast-growing trees were more favored. But now, most of the newly planted trees are water-saving species, which are easy to maintain."

ZHANG LIANG, STAFF XIONG'AN ECOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTION INVESTMENT "It requires generations of effort to build a green, ecological and habitable city. It is the new concept we are all going to follow."  

A green development concept is now a common consensus among the public in China and it starts with planting trees. Ning Hong, CGTN, Xiong'an.