China is shifting its afforestation strategy from quantity to quality, leveraging digital technology and artificial intelligence to maximize ecological gains as the nation marks its 48th National Tree Planting Day on Thursday.

Official data released on Thursday shows China’s total forest area has now exceeded 2.4 billion hectares, with forest coverage rising to over 25 percent and forest stock volume approaching 21 billion cubic meters, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The country now has approximately 142.6 billion trees, averaging 100 per person, the data showed.

As the world's fastest and largest contributor to global greening, China accounts for one-quarter of the planet's newly added vegetation area. These figures are not rough estimates but precise measurements derived from an integrated "sky-air-ground" technological system.

At the Chinese Academy of Forestry's Artificial Intelligence and Visualization Laboratory in Beijing, a digital command center is revolutionizing how the country approaches tree planting.

Researchers can now conduct virtual tours through digital forests and, crucially, provide real-time scientific guidance for ongoing planting activities using a digital twin visualization system.

The application of these high-tech methods will help meet the goals outlined in China's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), a key blueprint mapping out the country's development priorities for the coming years.

"Using AI technology allows us to know exactly where forests have been planted, how much area they cover, and assess their quality. This ensures every investment achieves maximum benefits. This aligns with the 15th Five-Year Plan's requirements for developing new quality productive forces, promoting digital empowerment across all sectors, and driving green development through technological innovation," said Yang Tingdong, associate research fellow at the Research Institute of Forest Resource Information Techniques of the Chinese Academy of Forestry.

Last year, the output value of China's forestry and grassland industry reached nearly 11 trillion yuan (about 1.6 trillion U.S. dollars), according to a report released on Thursday by the National Greening Commission.

The report also showed that ecotourism remained popular across China, with over 3 billion trips recorded in 2025.