China has seen steady growth in nature reserves, which are now home to 89 percent of the wild animals and plants on its protected lists.

Reserves now account for 14.8 percent of the country's territory, said Chen Jining, minister of environmental protection, on Sunday - the International Day for Biological Diversity.

Since 1956, when the first nature reserves were created, China has established 2,740 reserves. They include forests, wetlands and geological parks and comprise 147 million hectares. The percentage of the nation's territory set aside as protected nature reserves is higher than the global average, Chen said.