China has 1,078 forest parks across the country with over 20,000 km of forest-based scenic routes, a distance equivalent to half way around the equator.
Sources from the State Administration of Forestry (SAF) say that of all the forest parks, which cover 6.56 million hectares of land, 344 are designated state-level sites.
Because of China's abundant forest resources, these parks have formed a multi-functional system, meeting tourists' requirement of board and lodging, transport, sightseeing, shopping and entertainment.
Over the past five years, about 278 million people have visited the forest parks, bringing in an income of 4.5 billion yuan (US$542 million). In 2000, 1.5 million overseas tourists visited the parks.
The booming forest route is a key factor in increasing the local economic development. With local investment of one billion yuan during the 9th Five-Year period (1996-2000), it has created some 3.5 million jobs.
The founding of the forest park system marks a fundamental change in China's traditional way of using forest resources. China's forestry industry now focuses on social and economic areas on one hand, while preserving the biological and natural legacies on the other, according to Li Yucai, deputy director of SAF.
(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2001)
