At the end of 2017, Quanzhou, a city in East China's Fujian province, began promoting the ecological protection and restoration of its surrounding forests, fields, lakes and grasslands as part of the "continuous ecological belt" scheme. The intent behind the project is to ensure healthy and favorable environmental conditions.

At present, 22 continuous ecological belt demonstration projects in the Quanzhou Bay area have been announced, with 14 projects currently under development and the others in preliminary work stages.

As a demonstration project of the continuous ecological belt urban planning and construction concept, the Baiqi Lake Ecological Continuous Belt in Quanzhou Taiwan Investment Zone boasts a good ecological background.

The Baiqi Lake Ecological Continuous Belt in Quanzhou Taiwan Investment Zone sees initial development. [Photo/qzwb.com]

As part of the ecological belt plan, the Maritime Silk Road Ecological Park was established and opened to the public in 2019. Since its debut, it has been well received by citizens.

Covering a total area of 4,620.45 mu (308.03 hectares), the park stands as a profound example of a well-planned environmental project, utilizing sponge city technology and organically integrating urban functions with the local ecology. The Maritime Silk Road Ecological Park has also been successful at integrating cultural and leisure projects.

On the east side of the Quanzhou Bay area, a landscape improvement project at Haiwan Avenue in Quanzhou Taiwan Investment Zone is currently in the planning stages. The ecological area will have a total length of 19.83 kilometers, starting from Houzhu Bridge in the west and ending at Moon Bay in the east.

Along the route, there are several large-scale tourism projects – including Moon Bay and Baisha Bay, coastal landscape tourism resources such as Maritime Silk Road Art Park and wetland resources such as Baiqi Lake and Luoyang River.

On the west side of the Quanzhou Bay area, plans are currently in place to construct a large coastal channel landscape, coastal wet zone, urban landscape and rural greenway network.

Quanzhou also plans to establish 12 mountain and ocean sightseeing corridors, with Qingyuan, Zimao, Lingyuan and the Shuangji Mountains as landmarks.