Species China is one of the countries with the richest biodiversity. There are 30,000 high plants in China, accounting for 10% of the total of the world and ranking third in the world. Among these, there are 250 gymnosperms. There are 6347 vertebrates, accounting for 14% of the world’s total. Among these, there are 1244 birds and 3862 fishes, ranking top in the world. There 17,300 endemic high plants in China and 667 endemic vertebrates.

Wetland The area of wetlands in China is 63 million hectares in total, accounting for about 2.7% of the total land area of the country and more than 10% of the total world wetland area and ranking the fourth in the world. Among this, there are more than 26 million hectares of natural wetland, including 11 million hectares of marshland, 12 million hectares of lakes and 2.1 million hectares of beach and salt marsh land.

Nature Reserve By the end of 2000, the number of nature reserves in China has totaled 1227, accounting for 9.85% of the total land area of the country.

National Program for Ecological Conservation In 2000, the State Council issued the National Program for Ecological Conservation. In this program, the objectives for safeguarding the national ecological safety were proposed for the first time and stricter supervisory and preventive measures identified for addressing ecological problems in key regions. The program was designed to strengthen the ecological conservation in important areas of ecological functions, resources development and good ecology.

China Action Plan for Wetland Protection In 2000, China promulgated the National Action Plan for Wetland Protection. This plan provides guidance for wetland protection in the future and identifies measures for protection and recovery of wetland ecosystems in the Yangtse River Basin, the Yellow River Basin, Three Rivers and Song-Neng River Plains in northeast China, lakes in plateaus, coastal areas, Lancang River Basin and mangroves.

Coastal Biodiversity Conservation By 2000, China has established 69 nature reserves of various types for marine biodiversity protection. Among them, there 18 national reserves, 20 provincial reserves and 31 county-level reserves. The total area of these reserves has exceeded 13,000 square kilometers. The reserves include those for protecting coastal ecosystems, coastal natural heritage and marine biodiversity. The marine reserve in Nanlulie Island, Zhejiang Province and the mangrove protected area in Shankou, Guangxi Autonomous Region have been accepted as member of MAB Network.