The 2026 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forestry Ministers'Meeting was held in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province, from July 27 to 28. The gathering centered on three key themes: forest protection and sustainable management, win-win ecological and livelihood outcomes and the role of technological innovation in advancing forestry practices across the region.
2026 APEC Ministerial Meeting on Forestry in Shenzhen. [Photo/Nanfang Daily]
As a pioneer and pathfinder in green development, Guangdong has ranked among the top provinces nationwide in forestry development for consecutive years.
By the end of 2025, the province's forest coverage rate reached 53.39 percent, with forest stock volume totaling 657 million cubic meters and total forestry output value surpassing 1 trillion yuan ($148.8 billion). Over the three years since the launch of the Green and Beautiful Guangdong ecological initiative, Guangdong has improved the quality of 827,000 hectares of forests and planted 213 million native broad-leaved trees, continuously optimizing forest community structure.
South China National Botanical Garden. [Photo/Nanfang Daily]
Diversified forestry formats, including under-forest planting, breeding and integrated operations, have all made solid progress. The province's eight signature forestry industrial clusters, such as oil-tea camellia, bamboo and forest medicinal herbs, have generated an output value of over 52.7 billion yuan.
By leveraging platforms such as the Canton Fair and the Guangdong Forestry Expo, Guangdong has cultivated well-known local brands. Lingnan specialty forest products, including agarwood and bamboo shoots, are mainly sold to Asia-Pacific economies such as ASEAN, Japan and the Republic of Korea, steadily expanding international forestry cooperation.
Guangdong boasts the largest mangrove area in China, with 5,506.79 hectares of newly planted mangroves added since 2020. On July 26, the International Mangrove Center, the world's first intergovernmental organization dedicated to mangrove protection, was inaugurated in Shenzhen, covering major mangrove distribution regions across Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Guangdong is set to capitalize on the APEC cooperation mechanism and the International Mangrove Center platform to deepen exchanges with Asia-Pacific economies in mangrove protection, ecological restoration and green industries, jointly build an Asia-Pacific ecological security barrier, and promote harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.
