China's National Afforestation Committee released a bulletin showcasing developments in the forestry sector in 2012 to mark the country's 35th Tree Planting Day.

The following are some basic facts about the developments in the country's forestry sector:

Tree planting: A total of 600 million volunteers participated in tree-planting activities in 2012, with 2.6 billion trees planted throughout the year.

By the end of 2012, volunteers nationwide had planted 64 billion trees since the government first encouraged participation in such activities in 1981.

Forestation: China's engineering efforts created 6.01 million hectares of forestry areas in 2012.

Projects aimed at tackling sandstorm problems in Beijing and its neighboring Tianjin Municipality helped foster 537,000 hectares of green land last year.

In 2012, China's State Council approved a plan to invest a total of 87.79 billion yuan (14 billion U.S. dollars) during the 2013-2022 period to control sandstorms in the two cities.

Urban vegetation: Vegetation coverage in urban areas added 107,000 hectares from 2011 to 1.72 million hectares, bringing the coverage rate to 39.2 percent.

The average vegetation for each urban resident in 2012 increased 0.6 square meter from a year earlier to 11.8 square meters.

Desertification control: China's desertification control efforts rehabilitated more than 1.54 million hectares of desert land last year.