BEIJING - Botanical gardens on Thursday joined forces to ensure that all of China's indigenous plant species are protected by the gardens within the next decade.

China has more than 200 botanical gardens nationwide but no mechanism to ensure their coordination, said Chen Jin, president of the new botanical garden alliance.

Only 66 percent of China's indigenous plant species and 34 percent of rare and endangered plant species are being conserved in China's botanical gardens, according to Chen, who is also head of southwest China's Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden.

The alliance aims to ensure the conservation of 80 percent of China's indigenous plant species and 70 percent of its rare and endangered plant species within five years.

Forty-eight botanical gardens have joined the alliance.