Nine Chinese cities, including Dali in Yunnan province, Lhasa in the Xizang autonomous region, Fuzhou in Fujian province and Yueyang in Hunan province, were recently designated as international wetland cities, marking the third such set of cities announced after 2018 and 2022.

At the 64th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ramsar Convention, which was held in Gland, Switzerland, in late January, the addition of 31 cities to the Wetland City Accreditation program was announced. Currently, there are 74 accredited wetland cities around the world, with 22 of them in China.

According to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, wetlands are often referred to as "the kidneys of the Earth", because they play a crucial role in purifying water, regulating climate and maintaining biodiversity.

By prohibiting aquaculture to enable restoration of the wetland ecosystem, more than 55 percent of the Fujian Minjiang River Estuary Wetlands, located in Fuzhou's Changle district, has recovered its ecological functions, making it an important habitat for the black-faced spoonbill, a globally endangered species, the administration said.

Yueyang in Hunan initiated its wetland conservation efforts in the 1980s and established the East Dongting Lake Nature Reserve. The city has achieved a wetland conservation rate of 67 percent, with over 300 species of birds living there, including 18 species of first-class nationally protected birds, according to the local government.

In the process of continuous improvement of the wetland environment, a series of bird-watching activities related to culture and tourism have also driven the area's economic development, the local government said.

Musonda Mumba, secretary-general of the Ramsar Convention, said last month that China has integrated wetland protection with urban development through scientific planning, providing replicable experiences for the world.

Lei Guangchun, a professor of ecological protection at Beijing Forestry University, said China's wetland protection has transitioned to a "new stage of high-quality development".

Data from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration shows that ever since China joined the Ramsar Convention in 1992, the country has improved laws and policies on protecting wetlands and achieved significant progress. China currently has 82 major wetlands, with a stable wetland area of 56.35 million hectares, ranking first in Asia and fourth globally.

Lei, the professor, said that China is collaborating with African countries to develop a mangrove project that is expected to sequester 500,000 metric tons of carbon annually, making a substantive contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

In July, the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention will be held in Zimbabwe. China will share technological achievements such as the smart wetland monitoring system and small-scale wetland restoration at the meeting, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said.