The European Council on Foreign Relations

“Bo-trees” and the greening of China

Date: 20th September 2011  |  Author: Jonas Parello-Plesner,

Categories: China,
Tags: china, environment

On an earlier trip to China, I wrote about tree power in Nanjing, where citizens and NGOs had launched a campaign against the removal of old trees shading the alleys in order to make way for construction work and a new subway line. The citizens’ protests succeeded – at least temporarily – in getting the government to turn off the chainsaws. 

Now, having returned to China, I have witnessed a massive tree-planting programme led by the government itself.

Chongqing, the world's largest city, with over half of UK's population, has gone on a tree planting spree. Driving in from the airport, you now see green trees sprouting up in the most improbable places along the highway. It is gingko, camphorwood and osmanthus that have taken over from billboards and deserted stretches of scrub.

Chongqing's strongman, Bo Xilai – a contender for one of the top seats after the Party shakeup when Hu and Wen leave next year – is making his lasting marks on Chongqing, and the tree campaign is the one he highlights as his pride. It is being done to boost his political campaign, but also as part of a genuine bid for city transformation. Chongqing will now be safe, traffic smooth (the most eloquent rendition of the Chinese term. Other options were: 'suitably the unimpeded'...), liveable and, relevant to this little piece: green.

And just as China is fast building high-speed train rails, dams and highways, the same is happening with green promises. Bo ordered trees to be planted and the local authorities obeyed. The districts divided the trees like other quotas. Some districts had less free space for trees but still they had to find a place for them. One interlocutor tells me about a tree planting ceremony where there wasn’t enough space for another tree and the high level guests had to drive around to find a vacant spot. Thousands of trees were planted in a short time span. The campaign has cost 311 billion renminbi, explain local officials. Another local I talk with laughs nervously when I call the new greenery “Bo-trees.”

Infallible as the Pope, Bo Xilai argues: “You can never make a mistake in planting trees”. Chongqing has definitely become more visibly green in a short space of time. Yet it takes more than trees to keep a city really ecologically green. Excessive tree planting can in fact lead to other problems down the road. The local Chongqingers might have preferred sticking to their traditional banyan trees rather than see an explosion of gingkos, or might have opted for other less costly ways to ‘green’ their city.

Either way, the slogan these days is no longer 'let a hundred flowers bloom' but let thousands of trees grow. Bo Xilai will definitely have left his mark if, as is likely, he leaves for the heart of power in Beijing next year.

Share or like this blog post Print this post