BEIJING - Chinese Vice-premier Hui Liangyu Monday called for increased efforts to push forward the nation's afforestation, in a bid to build a greener country.

Hui, who heads the National Afforestation and Greening Committee, made the remarks in a congratulatory message to the opening of the second Afforestation Exposition of China (AEC) held in Zhengzhou city in central China's Henan province.

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In the message, Hui said China has met its afforestation goal - 20 percent forest coverage by 2010 - in advance, contributing much to the improvement of the environment.

The achievement is also a major boost for global efforts to combat climate change, he said.

But he also noted that forest coverage in China is still low, and so more afforestation efforts are needed.

The AEC was co-hosted by the State Forestry Administration of China and the Henan provincial government to showcase China's afforestation achievements.

The first exposition of its kind was held five year ago.