Beijing has surged ahead as the world’s leader in forest expansion, boasting the largest and fastest greening efforts on the planet. According to the latest data from China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the country’s total forest area now spans 3.614 billion mu, a staggering achievement that underscores Beijing’s commitment to environmental restoration.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China afforested an impressive 185 million mu – an area comparable to the entire Fujian province. This rapid expansion has positioned the nation at the forefront of global green coverage growth. Researchers from Peking University, led by Guo Qinghua, revealed in their 2025 study that China is home to approximately 142.6 billion trees as of 2020. That’s roughly 100 trees per person, a milestone reached through innovative techniques like drone surveys, LiDAR technology, and advanced algorithms across over 76,000 sample plots.
This ‘100 trees per person’ benchmark isn’t just a number; it’s a tangible symbol of China’s green assets, making ecological wealth visible and accessible to every citizen. The success stems from both protecting existing forests and planting new ones aggressively. Since 2012, China has greened over 1.1 billion mu (about 73.3 million hectares), accounting for nearly 25% of the world’s newly created green areas.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 highlights China’s dominance, projecting an average annual forest increase of 1.69 million hectares between 2015 and 2025. No other country comes close to this net annual growth rate. As climate challenges intensify worldwide, China’s model of large-scale afforestation offers a blueprint for sustainable development, blending technology, policy, and public participation to combat deforestation and boost biodiversity.