The survival rate of more than 16,000 transplanted trees has reached 98 percent in this capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province thanks to "intravenous drip" that give trees extra nutrition and protection, the local gardening authority said Friday.

Workers with the municipal bureau of parks and woods of Xi'an have been hanging plastic bags or glass bottles filled with nutrition ingredients or pesticide on many of the 16,052 transplanted trees since October, Chen Xianzhang, vice head of the municipal bureau of parks and woods, told Xinhua.

The trees have been thriving and many are burgeoning in spring, said Chen, adding that the bureau will make the method a long-term practice.

"People were curious about the bags at first, saying the trees were treated like a patient," he said.

Xi'an has gradually removed trees of various species including paulownia, cherry, peach and locust trees from across the province in recent years to the city in an effort to add 4.86 million square kilometers of green area, according to Wei Wu, an official with the bureau.

The city collected trees from the countryside where dismantling or reconstruction projects were underway, or those left over in road widening projects. Many were purchased from forestry farms and nurseries, Wei said.

The municipal government plans to invest 460 million yuan (US$67.4 million) in the forestation campaign as of 2010, which is expected to help the city to win the title of "national forest city".

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2009)