300 million people visited China's forests last year, accounting for more than 30 percent of the total number of tourists, and generating more than US$12 billion in revenue.

A senior official from the State Forest Administration said that China, with the world's largest number of forest parks, had been constructing and protecting forest parks and nature reserves since the 1980s.

China currently has a total of 1600 forest parks and more than 1,700 natural reserves, and 19 of its natural reserves are listed in the International Biosphere Reserve Network.

(CRI.com May 31, 2004)