Let a thousand trees bloom: Chinese officials start drive to give Xi Jinping’s dream city a greener look
Xiongan launches drive to create ‘splendid vegetation to last a thousand years’ in site earmarked to become new economic powerhouse
Workers have planted 33,000 trees within 12 days at the site chosen for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “dream city”, the local authorities have claimed.
The management committee for Xiongan, the area outside Beijing chosen by Xi to become a new hi-tech hub, announced the tree-planting drive on Weibo on Saturday, saying they planned to create “splendid vegetation to last a thousand years”.
About 260,000 plants from nearby nursery gardens will be planted within a 667-hectare area by the end of the year, according to the committee.
Since the middle of the month, more than 1,000 workers have been deployed to plant the saplings.
Committee head Chen Gangming said only saplings from nurseries would be used.
“The trees to be grown in the new area must never be old trees with their crowns cut, or those dug up from the Taihang Mountains,” Chen was quoted as saying.
“That will harm neighbouring areas and not benefit us.”
The announcement said young Chinese pines were most in demand and most of the trees were sourced from gardens in Baoding.
Xi’s plan is to attract scores of hi-tech and green businesses in the hope of creating a new economic powerhouse.
According to the ecological goals previously announced by local authorities, by 2030, over 70 per cent of the area will be covered by vegetation and water.
