Eighteen wetlands in China were designated in 2022 as Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration announced Thursday on the occasion of the 27th World Wetlands Day.

The 18 new sites include Beijing Wild Duck Lake Wetland, the nine turns and 18 bends on the Greater Khingan Range, and Baima Lake Wetland in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province.

Following the expansion, the number of Wetlands of International Importance hit 82 in China, covering a surface area of 7.647 million hectares, the fourth largest in the world, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

Beijing Wild Duck Lake Wetland. /CFP

February 2 marks the World Wetlands Day, which is the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar. The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental agreement dedicated to the conservation and rational use of wetland ecosystems.

This year's theme of World Wetlands Day is "It's Time for Wetlands Restoration," highlighting the urgent need to prioritize wetland restoration.

At a press conference on World Wetlands Day held in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, on Thursday, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration released the results of the monitoring of the ecological status of Wetlands of International Importance in China in 2022.

The results show that the ecological status of the Wetlands of International Importance in China is generally stable, the total wetland area has increased compared with the previous year, there is a good trend in water quality, and the water supply status remains stable. China's wetland biodiversity has been enriched, with 2,391 plant species recorded.