Beijing is to invest 4.2 billion yuan (US$50 million) to build the city's second green belt before 2008, according to Beijing municipal officials.

The green belt will cover 1,650 square km in ten suburban districts and involve 2 million people, 930,000 of whom are rural residents. By 2008, this belt will have doubled its current forest area, with tree coverage rate rising from 25 percent to over 50 percent.

The municipal government will contribute 1.9 billion of the investment and the rest will be covered by the concerned districts.

The first green belt has been finished, about 100 square km near the city's third and fourth ring roads.

Beijing is striving to plant more trees in a bid to protect its environment and beautify the city, especially before the 2008 Olympics.

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2003)