Say "China" and you think of grey skies, weighed down by a massive blanket of smog, of the ubiquitous masks on city dwellers' faces, of rampant urbanisation. And yet something is changing: air quality has improved in many areas of the country, and the turquoise of the sky is no longer a mirage, thanks to the environmental policies adopted by the government. Among these stands out the ambitious reforestation project launched in 2016, which aims to increase forest cover across the entire nation to 23 per cent by the end of 2020.

Trees to the rescue

Beijing's target for 2018 is to plant 6.6 million hectares of forest by the end of the year. This enormous reforestation effort will help China to restore precious degraded habitats and combat climate change. Over the past five years, more than 33 million hectares of forest have been planted across the country, covering an area the size of Italy in trees, at a cost of almost 83 billion dollars.

No more irrational development

Alongside the planting of new trees, the government has introduced a plan requiring provinces and regions to limit "irrational development" and reduce construction near rivers, forests and national parks. Fifteen provinces have already embraced the initiative by drawing up dedicated urban planning schemes; the remaining sixteen provinces will follow suit this year.

Together for a greener China

"Companies, organisations and all experts are welcome to take part in the country's massive reforestation campaign," declared Zhang Jianlong, head of China's State Forestry Administration. "Cooperation between government and society is considered a priority."

Point of no return

The substantial financial investment China has made in reforesting its territory demonstrates a remarkable — and probably unavoidable — awakening, given that the country had perhaps been edging towards the point of no return. Air pollution causes 1.6 million deaths a year, and in 2014 approximately two thirds of the groundwater analysed and one third of surface water were found to be unfit for human contact.

Promoting biodiversity

Despite China's efforts being commendable, a 2016 study found that the reforestation project has not promoted biodiversity, favouring the planting of a small number of plant species and therefore failing to achieve effective ecological restoration of the area.

Change is possible

Holding China up as an example of a virtuous country in environmental protection would probably be an overstatement, and yet the Asian nation could send a message to the entire world, demonstrating that, however dire the situation may seem, it is never too late to try to reverse the trend and commit decisively — through real investment in improving environmental health and developing clean technologies, rather than through empty declarations — to sustainability.