On April 18, the 2025 "我与北京iBeijing" (Me and Beijing: iBeijing) Beijing International Friendship Forest Tree Planting Event was held in Yangfang Town, Changping District, Beijing. Diplomats, foreign experts, and international students from 50 countries — including Germany, Bangladesh, and Pakistan — gathered to plant a friendship forest, adding fresh greenery to the city.

Foreign friends planting trees at the International Friendship Forest in Beijing
[Photo by Qu Chang]

At the site, international participants worked together to dig holes, build soil mounds and water-retaining basins, and watered the trees together. Kazi Ziaul Hasan, Minister of the Embassy of Bangladesh in China, praised the Beijing International Friendship Forest initiative as highly meaningful. "This event is very meaningful. It brings great benefits to environmental protection and people's lives. I hope it continues for years to come," he said.

Ishtiaq Muhammad, a Pakistani faculty member from Beijing University of Technology, enthusiastically joined the effort, planting five "friendship trees" alongside other participants. Having lived in Beijing for nearly a decade, Ishtiaq has witnessed firsthand the city's bluer skies and growing greenery over the years. He praised the achievements Beijing has made in building a greener development.

Foreign friends planting trees at the event site
[Photo by Qu Chang]

As the largest voluntary tree-planting event for foreign friends in Beijing, the International Friendship Forest Tree Planting Event has been successfully held for ten consecutive years. To date, it has brought together more than 2,900 foreign friends living in Beijing from over 120 countries. Together, they have planted and nurtured over 12,100 trees, including Chinese lacebark pines, Chinese scholar trees, and Begonia.

(Source: CRI Online)