China - Overview

Status and Trends of Biodiversity

Overview

Being one of the megadiverse countries, China is home to approximately 6,347 species of vertebrates, including 581 animal, 1,244 bird, 376 reptile, 284 amphibian, and 3,862 fish species. Well-known among them are giant panda, golden monkey, South China tiger, Tibetan antelope, baiji and Chinese alligator. China has more than 30,000 higher plants, ranking third in the world after Brazil and Columbia... More »

Number and Extent of Protected Areas

China has set up a total of 2,349 protected areas at different levels, accounting for 15% of its total land area. 16 of them have been included in the World Heritage list and 27 of them in the list of wetlands of international importance. China has established a total of about 90 marine protected areas.

Percentage of Forest Cover

China’s forest cover has reached 175 million hectares and the forest coverage rate is 18.21% of its land area.

National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan

Major features of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan

The overall objective of China’s NBSAP is to undertake effective measures expeditiously to avoid further damage to the natural environment and resources in China and mitigate or reverse this serious situation. Specifically, the action plan has identified seven major objectives, including: strengthening the fundamental studies of biodiversity; improving networks of protected areas; protecting wild species with biodiversity importance; protecting the genetic resources of crops and domesticated animals; in-situ conservation outside protected areas; establishing national networks of biodiversity monitoring and information; and coordinating between biodiversity conservation and sustainable development... More »

Implementation of the Convention

Measures Taken to Achieve the 2010 Target

China is developing biodiversity assessment indicator system. China aims to improve its management capacity and construction level of the protected areas. 88 national-level model protected areas will be set up by 2010. A few sectoral plans for protection of agricultural, forest and marine biodiversity have also included some thematic targets... More »

Initiatives in Protected Areas

China aims to expand its protected area coverage to 18% of its total land areas by 2050. China also plans to establish a comprehensive legal and management system for protected areas by 2010. By 2020, China is going to set up 200 areas for protection of wild agricultural crops which originated from China. The above goals and targets have been included in a number of related plans and programmes, such as China’s five-year plan for ecology conservation (2006-2010) and China’s plan for wild animal protection and protected areas... More »

Initiatives in Access and Benefit Sharing

China has established an inter-ministerial mechanism for protecting biological resources, including genetic resources. The country is developing a regulation on protection of biological resources. China has developed a few regulations covering the transfer of some genetic resources, such as Seed Law, the Regulation Concerning Protection of New Plant Varieties and the Provisional Regulation Concerning Trade of Seeds... More »

Initiatives for Article 8(j)

China has undertaken some surveys related to the traditional knowledge used in some local areas such as Yunnan, Guizhou and Qinghai for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The country has completed a project on Chinese medicinal herbs, which lays a good basis for protection of traditional knowledge related to Chinese herbs... More »

National Contacts

Full details of national contacts »

Convention on Biological Diversity

Ms. Jieqing Zhang	CBD Primary NFP
Ministry of Environmental Protection	Global Taxonomy Initiative NFP
Prof. Hongwen Huang	GSPC NFP
Mr. Chengshou Bai	Protected Areas NFP
Mr. Zhang Wenguo	CHM NFP, SBSTTA NFP, Access and Benefit Sharing NFP
Mr. Jiansheng Jia	GSPC NFP
Ms. Cai Lei	GSPC NFP

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

Ms. Jieqing Zhang	Cartagena Protocol Primary NFP
Mr. Wang Jie	BCH NFP