About 55.7 percent of the 252 kinds of wild animals covered by a national investigation have been shown to be increasing steadily in a national investigation of wild plant resources, says a white paper entitled Environmental Protection in China (1996-2005) issued on Monday.

    And 71 percent among the 189 types of wild plants covered are up to the standard for stable survival, according to the white paper released by the Information Office of the State Council.

    The numbers of rare and endangered wild animal species, such as the Chinese alligator and red ibis, have increased by wide margins. The number of wild giant pandas has now reached 1,596, and domesticated ones, 183, statistics from the white paper show.

    Some wildlife species have been found in wider areas, and new records, breeding grounds or winter homes of black-beaked gulls and black-faced spoonbills have been constantly discovered, the white paper says.

    Arborvitae, which was declared by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources to be an extremely endangered species after having disappeared in China for over 100 years, has been found in China again, according to the white paper.

    China is a country rich in biodiversity. The State has formulated the China Action Plan for Biodiversity Conservation, followed by China's Biodiversity: A Country Study and the Plan for the Protection and Utilization of the Resources of Biological Species, according to the white paper.

    At present, there are 250 bases for saving and breeding wildlife, over 400 centers for conserving and cultivating wild plant species or preserving wild plant genes in China, which have artificially produced stable species groups for over 200 kinds of endangered rare animals and about 1,000 types of wild plants, statistics from the white paper show.

    Meanwhile, investigation and collection of key wild plants on the verge of extinction and under state protection have been carried out, and 67 zones have been set up to protect the original habitats of wild agricultural plants, according to the white paper.

    A nationwide investigation has also been carried out on species from abroad, and action has been taken to root out the most harmful and noxious of such species in 100 counties in ten provinces, enhancing the public awareness and people's capacity to guard against the intrusion of foreign species, the white paper said.

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