NANNING - China's coastline in the Beibu Gulf has been put under a red-line protection initiative for preserving marine ecology.

Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has put 60.12 percent of its seashore and coastal waters, or 4,100 square km of area and a 585.53 km long coastline, under the newly-adopted protection initiative.

Guangxi has topped Chinese coastal provinces and regions in preserving the coastal water quality since 2016 with more than 85 percent of its sea areas rated as having good water quality.

The regional government said the ecological red-line initiative aimed to lift the coverage of high water quality to 91 percent of its coastal waters by 2020.

Liu Bin, chief engineer of the regional marine and fishery department, said under the conservation scheme, the government required the preserved areas not to be disturbed by human activity, protecting endangered mangrove forests, coral reefs and the dugong, the world's only herbivorous sea mammal.