According to the State forest administration of China, over the past 20 years the country’s forest area has increased by more than 60 million hectares – from 134 million hectares in 1992 to 195 million hectares in 2012.
China plans to increase the area of the forests by 40 million hectares before 2020. This increase in area is associated with intense artificial afforestation, mainly on former agricultural lands and areas of desertification. The total area of artificial forests in China now stands at 61.68 million hectares. China has already spent 325 billion yuan (51.6 billion dollars) on afforestation of former agricultural land.