国内英语新闻:Large-scale tree-planting program launched for protecting Yangtze River

BEIJING, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- China launched a large-scale tree-planting program against soil-erosion along the Three-Gorge Dam section of the country's largest Yangtze River Friday, with two launching ceremonies held in Beijing and Chongqing, simultaneously.

The program is aimed to raise funds from individual and institutional donors for planting trees on 3.8 million mu (253,333 hectares) on the banks of the Yangtze River in Chongqing.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is the honorary chairman of the organizational committee of the program.

Vice Premier Hui Liangyu and Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai attended and addressed the ceremony in Beijing.

Hui spoke highly of the tree-planting program, saying that it would be new probe for the bio-environmental protection of major rivers in the country as well as a new, great contribution to the afforestation and protection of the Yangtze River.

The vice premier recognized that the Yangtze River is still facing severe bio-environmental deterioration and soil erosion, though notable achievements have been made in the afforestation efforts along the river in the past decades.

In his speech, Bo pledged that Chongqing will take three to five years to increase the forest coverage in the dam area to 65 percent, from the present 22.2 percent. Currently, soil-erosion has covered over 20,000 square kilometers, about 50 percent of the total area, he noted.

According to previous reports, Chongqing plans to raise over 10 billion yuan (1.5 billion U.S. dollars) from institutional and individual donors for the tree-planting program.