The Daqing Mountain in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia [Photo provided to en.hhhtnews.com]

Hohhot – capital of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region – has been boosting high-quality development with a focus on ecological and green development, according to local media reports.

Since 2012, Hohhot has been implementing a comprehensive conservation program for the southern slopes of Daqing Mountain in the Yinshan Mountain range, with the restoration of the Chilechuan Grassland being an integral part.

Hohhot has shut down 292 polluting enterprises on the front slope of Daqing Mountain and demolished nearly 600,000 square meters of illegal buildings.

Two or three years after the restoration project was implemented, the vegetation on the Chilechuan Grassland saw vast improvements. More than 20 kinds of plants were introduced to promote a healthy ecosystem. Now, the number of plant species on the grassland has grown to nearly 60, while a large number of animals have made the area their homes.

To improve the living environment, in 2021, 220 kilometers of urban greenways were built in Hohhot, and 186 pocket parks and community parks have been built.

Today, the city has completed 437,000 mu (29,133 hectares) of forest and grass ecological construction, the forest coverage rate in the city has reached 23 percent and the green coverage rate in the built-up area has reached 40.1 percent.

Hohhot has been recognized as "China's Most Ecologically Competitive City" and a "National Forest City".