China's wetlands increased by more than 200,000 hectares during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), with a wetland protection rate of above 50 percent, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

A flock of black-faced spoonbills are seen at a wetland park in Guangcun Town, Danzhou City, south China's Hainan Province, Dec. 28, 2020. Many black-faced spoonbills come to Danzhou for the warm weather there in the winter. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

During this period, the country has earmarked 9.9 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) to carry out about 2,000 projects to protect wetlands, including ecological compensation mechanisms, restoring farmland into wetlands, and wetland protection and restoration projects.

The country has built a wetland protection system consisting of wetlands of international importance, wetlands of national significance, wetland protection zones, and wetland parks.

From 2016 to 2020, the country added 15 wetlands of international importance and 29 wetlands of national significance, effectively restoring the functions of the wetland system.