Chinese President Xi Jinping urged development of the country's forestry while attending a voluntary tree planting in Beijing on Tuesday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) plants a sapling with students during a tree-planting event in Xihongmen Township of Daxing District in Beijing, capital of China, April 5, 2016. Top leaders Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli attended a voluntary tree-planting in Beijing on Tuesday. [Xinhua]?

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, visited an afforestation site in Beijing's Daxing District and planted six saplings of different varieties at the site.

Other top leaders, including Premier Li Keqiang as well as Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli, also attended the event.

Noting that the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020) marks an important stage in the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and in China's ecological protection drive, the president stressed forestry development as a significant measure to fulfill these goals.

He called on cadres and officials at all levels to take the lead in voluntary tree planting campaigns to promote the new development concepts with their own practices.

Also, he called for proper management of planted trees to make people's living environment greener and more beautiful.

The president called for an altruistic and down-to-earth spirit for such activities, citing the Chinese proverb "people plant trees so their offspring can enjoy the shade."