Beijing's Yanqing expands forest for horticultural expo

Yanqing District, where the Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition is being held, has seen its forest coverage increase by over 10,666 hectares since 2012.

Visitors perform outside the International Pavilion at the Beijing horticultural expo site, in Yanqing District, northwest Beijing, on May 3, 2019. [File Photo: IC]

Themed "Live Green, Live Better," the exhibition, the world's largest expo of its kind, was opened on April 29 and will last until Oct. 7.

According to local authorities of Yanqing, the district finished planting over 666 hectares of trees near the expo venue during the past three years, and 72,000 square meters of parks were built in Yanqing.

The district's forest coverage rate reached 59.28 percent as of June 2019.

Taking the expo as an opportunity, Yanqing has also been developing a modern horticultural industry while promoting green development.

The newly launched Zhongguancun modern horticultural industry innovation center has attracted a dozen research institutes and over 30 companies.

The district is also developing the industries of fruit and flowers planting, forest seedlings cultivation, bee raising and ecological tourism, which has benefited 200,000 local farmers.