China unveils ambitious five-year ecological plan

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with five other government departments, jointly released on Monday an ecological protection plan for the 15th Five-Year period (2026–30), setting ambitious goals to improve the nation's ecological quality, expand forest coverage, and enhance soil and water conservation by the end of the decade.

The plan outlines that by 2030, China's ecological spatial framework will be continuously optimized, ecological quality will steadily improve, the trend of biodiversity loss will be effectively mitigated, the supply of premium ecological products will become more abundant, and national ecological security will be effectively safeguarded.

Specific targets set for 2030 include raising the Ecological Quality Index to 86.5, increasing the soil and water conservation rate to over 74 percent, and expanding forest coverage to 25.8 percent.

According to the 2025 Report on the State of the Ecology and Environment in China, released earlier by the ministry, the country's EQI stood at 60.3 for 2025. The country's national forest coverage reached 25.09 percent, and the national soil and water conservation rate reached 73.09 percent.

The EQI is a data indicator used to measure the status of natural ecosystems. It reflects the extent of environmental pollution and degradation, and serves as a metric for assessing the overall quality of the natural environment.

The index is composed of four primary indicators: ecological pattern, ecological function, biodiversity, and ecological stress. The EQI is scored on a scale ranging from 0 to 100.