An army of nearly 1,000 volunteers clean up the beaches in Pingtan, Fujian province on June 6. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Pingtan in South China's Fujian province launched a large volunteering activity to clean up the city's beaches on June 6.

Nearly 1,000 volunteers from government departments and public institutions took part in the activity, contributing to the municipal government's marine environmental protection efforts by clearing up trash from beaches including Longfengtou Beach, Tannan Bay and Changjiang’ao Beach.

Many of the volunteers commented that they were happy to give up their spare time because keeping Pingtan's beaches clean was so important to the city's development.

"Trash scattered on the beaches sabotaged Pingtan's captivating coastline views," said Wang Min, one of the army of volunteers. "It’s high time for us to do something."

"Pingtan is building itself into an international tourism island, and as a Pingtan resident, I hope to make my own contribution to the city's development," added Wang.

"We should be eco-conscious, and environmental protection can be carried out on a daily basis," said Liu Huixia, another volunteer who has participated in several similar activities in the past.

Tannan Bay and Longfengtou Beach, after two hours'cleaning, was completely transformed with no trash in sight.

Changjiang'ao Beach, which unlike the other two beaches is infamous for its litter-strewn sand, was also visibly improved by the clean-up.

The volunteers also sorted the trash after collecting it to ensure it was disposed of in the greenest possible way.

"Biodegradable garbage such as drift wood and straw needed to be sorted out from household garbage, and then dealt with by means of landfill or incineration," said Yu Danxu, deputy Party chief of the Pingtan bureau of environment, land and resources.