172 officials boost environment by planting trees

A total of 172 Chinese ministerial officials planted trees on Saturday morning to help protect the environment. Organized by the National Afforestation and Environmental Protection Committee, the activity was held in Changping District of north Beijing, with over 1,500 trees planted. Tree-planting by ministerial officials was initiated in 2002. Over 28,800 trees have been planted. According to the committee, 2.52 billion trees were voluntarily planted in China last year, with investment of 145 billion yuan (23.58 billion U.S. dollars), covering an area of 6.09 million hectares.