Huzhou is honored as the International Cooperation Demonstration Zone of Ecological Civilization during the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, or COP15, which kicked off in Montreal, Canada, on Dec 7. [Photo/WeChat account: huzhoufabu]

Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province was conferred the title of International Cooperation Demonstration Zone of Ecological Civilization during the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, or COP15, which kicked off in Montreal, Canada, on Dec 7.

Huzhou is the only city in the world to be given the honor.

The honor was conferred to Huzhou at the Sino-Quebec Cooperation Forum - an integral part of COP 15 - which was attended by a bevy of luminaries, including Huang Runqiu, president of COP15 and China's minister of ecology and environment, and Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

This phase of the COP15, which will run through Dec 19 in Montreal, follows the first phase of the meeting held in Kunming, Yunnan province, in October last year, when China launched the Kunming Biodiversity Fund. The fund is aimed at helping developing countries support biodiversity protection.

Huzhou has in recent years made strides in the construction of ecological civilization.

A comprehensive protection mechanism, for example, has been instituted in the city for more than 1,300 species of wild plants and over 1,700 species of wild animals.

In 2014, Huzhou became China's first municipal demonstration zone for ecological civilization.

This year, the city also received approval from the State Council to build a national demonstration zone for the sustainable development of agenda innovation, becoming the only city from Zhejiang to be included in the program.