Shandong's Jining city was awarded the title of the "National Forest City" at the 2018 Forest City Construction Symposium held in Shenzhen on Oct 15. 

The two other county-level cities in Jining, namely Qufu and Zoucheng also won the honorary title. 

So far, the total number of national forest cities has reached 165. There are 13 prefecture-level cities in Shandong province that have won the honor of "National Forest City".

Since Jining decided to build the national forest city in 2016, and it has actively implemented 10 key construction projects, covering the construction of country parks, green villages, forest network, forest villages and towns, mountain forest ecological barriers and wetland ecological environment, which have significantly improved the production and living environment of urban and rural residents.

This year, Jining constructed 14 provincial forest-level towns, 93 forest villages and 51 forest units, forming a regional forest city cluster centered in urban areas and based on county areas and radiating towns. The city's forest coverage rate reached 32.2 percent. The greening rate of main urban area reached 43.2 percent. The per capita park green area amounted to 14.8 square meters.

In recent years, Jining has taken on the work of building the national forest city as a powerful starting point for accelerating land greening, improving the ecological environment and building ecological civilization.

Guided by the new concept of ecological civilization, the city has strengthened organizational leadership, scientific planning and layout, and adhered to project promotion. 

It has improved the urban and rural living environment, spread the concept of ecological civilization, promoted the green development of the city, and effectively accelerated the pace of afforestation and greening.

The picturesque urban landscape of Jining, Shandong province. The city's forest coverage rate reached 32.2 percent. The greening rate of main urban area reached 43.2 percent. [Photo/iqilu.com]

An aerial photo captures the picturesque landscape of Jining, Shandong province. The city was awarded the title of the "National Forest City" at the 2018 Forest City Construction Symposium held in Shenzhen on Oct 15.[Photo/iqilu.com]  

The beautiful landscape of Qufu. The county-level city in Jining was also awarded the title of the "National Forest City" at the 2018 Forest City Construction Symposium held in Shenzhen on Oct 15.[Photo/iqilu.com]

The beautiful landscape of Zoucheng. The county-level city in Jining was also awarded the title of the "National Forest City" at the 2018 Forest City Construction Symposium held in Shenzhen on Oct 15.[Photo/iqilu.com]