BEIJING -- The number of forest fires recorded in China were down 32 percent year-on-year to 4,833 in the first half of 2011, the State Forestry Administration said Friday.

The fires resulted in 86 casualties and damaged 345,000 mu (23,000 hectares) of woods, down 17 percent and 36 percent respectively from a year earlier, according to the administration.

In the first half, new forests measuring 75.47 million mu in size were planted, accounting for nearly 84 percent of the planned new forestry projects for the whole year, said Zhao Shu, deputy chief of the adminisitration.

According to Zhao, the nation's forestry output value in the first five months reached 800 billion yuan (about $123 billion), representing an increase of 8.5 percent year-on-year.